After Toto Wolff said he’d “love” to have the three-time world champion at his team, Max Verstappen hasn’t ruled out driving for Mercedes in the future. After the “sex texts” scandal that rocked Formula One, the Dutchman’s future at Red Bull is in question. Lewis Hamilton’s transition to Ferrari in 2025 leaves open a seat at Mercedes and in the wake of watching Verstappen win the Saudi Middle Eastern Fantastic Prix, Wolff guaranteed ‘there is no group that wouldn’t do handstands to have him in the vehicle.’ Verstappen, 26, is contracted to Red Bull for the rest of the 2028 season and answered Wolff’s remarks in front of this end of the week’s Australian Stupendous Prix in Melbourne. ‘It no affects me on what I would do. It’s dependably ideal to hear that,’ he said ‘Toto and I, we had our little minutes however that is typical between two groups fighting for the title. However, respect has always existed. “From my perspective, it has no effect at all.” Verstappen responded, “I don’t know,” when asked if he would ever join Mercedes. What happens after 2028 is unknown to me. I am unsure whether I will continue to sign a new contract or remain in Formula One. That’s something I’ve never heard of. Mail Game detailed recently that Maximum and his dad Jos not entirely set in stone to create some distance from Horner, who stays ready in the wake of being gotten free from ‘coercive way of behaving’ towards a female representative. Horner additionally clarified at the Saudi race that ‘no individual is greater than the group.’ A very much positioned source discussed the chance of a cascading type of influence beginning with Verstappen going to Mercedes this season, Hamilton moving to Ferrari from the get-go instead of Carlos Sainz, and Fernando Alonso getting paperwork done for Red Bull. However, several significant contracts would need to be untied in order for that to occur. Verstappen’s Red Bull contract contains break clauses, one of which would kick in if his mentor and team advisor Helmut Marko left. “Let’s phrase it like this: It is a decision that Max needs to take, and there is no team up and down the grid who would do handstands to have him in their car,” Wolff stated. Meanwhile, Verstappen, who can rise to his own record of 10 sequential successes in the event that he completes top of the platform in Melbourne this end of the week, likewise discussed Red Bull as a ‘second family.’ He said: ‘I’ve generally felt agreeable [at Red Bull] in light of the fact that for me it resembles a subsequent family. ‘In a family, there could in some cases be, the way would you say, not conflicts, but rather in families you can’t pick family, you can pick companions. ‘In any case, no it’s benefit. It has been the same for me. We simply center around the presentation. ‘I would like the visit to be somewhat more about the extraordinary vehicle we have however ideally that will come gradually.’