Mercedes have been heavily linked with a move for Max Verstappen, who could find a way out of his Red Bull contract, with Toto Wolff's superior green lighting the move

Max Verstappen will be left “wowed” by the “little gold nugget” of having the car to beat at Mercedes in the F1 2026 season. That is the claim of Johnny Herbert, who believes Mercedes’ plans for F1’s new regulations will convince Verstappen to leave Red Bull.

Concerns about a brain drain in Milton Keynes are well-founded. Aside from Horner, Red Bull have lost Jonathan Wheatley, Rob Marshall and Adrian Newey since 2023, with the spine of the organisation that dominated the start of the ground effect era now working elsewhere.