Christian Horner hands Max Verstappen major warning about potential Mercedes move

Christian Horner believes a major unknown coming to F1 could mean a move to Mercedes would be a bad option for Max Verstappen, if he leaves Red Bull.

Christian Horner believes the major unknown of the 2026 F1 rules could mean Max Verstappen’s hypothetical move to Mercedes would be a mistake.

Although Horner has been firm that Verstappen is staying at Red Bull for 2026, the driver himself has not explicitly confirmed this to be the case, as rumours swirl that a deal for him to defect to Mercedes is being worked on.

Mercedes is widely expected to have the class-leading package for F1’s rules reset in 2026, especially with the new power unit regulations.

In contrast, for the first time, Red Bull is becoming a power unit manufacturer, with Red Bull Powertrains partnering with Ford, but Horner has conceded that it is almost 70 years behind Ferrari and Mercedes when it comes to building engines.

Given the uncertainty around RBPT and the alarming slump of Red Bull over the last year, Verstappen has been linked with a move away, but Horner feels jumping ship in 2026 would be a risk.

“It’s remarkable that George is still on the market. We haven’t engaged in any discussion with George,” Horner replied when questioned by RacingNews365 about the possibility of a direct swap with Verstappen.

“He’s obviously pretty confident that he’s going to get to retain where he is, but we’ve got strength in depth within our team.

You can see the Racing Bulls drivers, you can see [Arvid] Lindblad that we’re running in [FP1] and 2026 is going to be a transformational year.

“It’s the biggest rule change in Formula 1, probably in the last 50 years, where both chassis and power unit are being introduced at the same time.

“Nobody, with hand on heart, can know what the pecking order is going to be. It could be either [McLaren or Aston Martin], or it could be Ferrari. It could be Mercedes. It could be anyone.

“There’s an awful lot of subjectiveness to 2026, and it’ll only be really this time next year that you’ll have a clear indication of what that pecking order is.

“So, there are no guarantees that jumping into a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposition.”