According to David Croft, the reigning champion has his eye on Mercedes.
According to Sky Sports F1’s David “Crofty” Croft, it is still possible that reigning champion Max Verstappen and his team could consider a driver switch from Red Bull to Mercedes.
Prior to this, there had been several reports from the paddock about an internal team dispute from Milton Keynes, as well as questions about the team’s powertrain development for 2026.
The speculation had already surfaced at the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this season after a controversy surrounded Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
The intrigue has been further fuelled by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who is known to be an admirer of Verstappen, and has been keeping an eye on the Dutch driver’s abilities, especially in light of F1’s rule changes from 2026.
The presence of Max’s father, Jos Verstappen, at the Monaco race seemed to further intensify the wild speculation, suggesting more than just a casual visit and sparking further discussion of a possible team change.
David Croft, on the Sky F1 podcast, noted how persistent these rumors were over the Monaco weekend. “Let’s go back to Monaco, where the rumors of Verstappen moving to Mercedes started again… Then someone who we haven’t seen on the track for a while might come to the Monaco race, who might be quite close to Max Verstappen,” Croft speculated. “You can think about it that way, and I got some great text messages from people who heard about Jos over the Monaco weekend saying, ‘Max is going to Mercedes, it’s not over yet.'”
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s current performance, especially in the Principality, adds a new layer to the speculation.
Simon Lazenby from Sky Sports pointed to the team’s current troubles, stating:
“For Red Bull this is as shaky it’s been for a couple of years hasn’t it? If you’re trying to keep your top man and all of a sudden it’s looking like it’s got a baked-in problem they can’t get around with setup changes which is what is going on with this RB20.”
While the rumors about Verstappen’s move swirl, Wolff and Mercedes remain vigilant, monitoring not just their own powertrain development – coined to be far superior to Red Bull and Ford’s for 2026, something that Verstappen may have in the back of his mind – but also keeping a close eye on Red Bull’s team dynamics.
However, Lazenby tempered expectations about an imminent switch for Verstappen to Mercedes, adding, “We’re nearing a point now that it’s more likely if I was a betting man to say it’s Antonelli going into Mercedes and Verstappen staying.”
David Croft summed up the scenario:
“It’s quite clear that there’s still a bit of a ground that needs to be resolved in that particular conversation. Logically, Max stays exactly where he is. But when has logic ever formed part of a discussion on this one? Especially in F1.”
