2025 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Quantum]

Horner out of RB!!

Max coming to Merc for sure !?!

https://racingnews365.com/breaking-chri ... ate-effect

Might just be a desperate attempt to keep Max.

Honestly...the absolute state of that team right now. An absolute bonfire!
I wonder if the Toto life raft to Max comes with strings attached?

[Matt2725]

Horner out of RB!!

Max coming to Merc for sure !?!

https://racingnews365.com/breaking-chri ... ate-effect

I think it pretty much confirms he's staying at RBR. This is what they wanted all along and now they effectively have control of that team.

If it was because Max was gone they'd have not announced this firing until after that point.

Sacking Horner after the proverbial horse has bolted, would just be throwing the baby out with the bath water. This is a preventative measure in my mind.

[OverheatedTurbo]

Seems to me that Max is definitely leaving. The downside of having MV on the team would be dealing with Jos and probably the dumb side of Max’s fanbase. Now Toto can negotiate whatever he wants since either he stays on that sinking ship or comes over to Merc. Toto can now choose the lineup he wants, either Russtappen, Antstappen or neither.

[Waz]

Red Bull have done Toto a huge favor, lol. Suddenly Max's options appear a lot more limited.

RBR and VCARB will be propping up the rear for the next couple of years. There's sure to be a mass exodus from RBR, RBPT and RBT. People like to talk junk about how toxic Horner is, but an awful lot of staff worked for him for many years. I honestly don't think he's the problem.

Verstappen and Russell will make a formidable team.

[Seanspeed]

Horner out of RB!!

Max coming to Merc for sure !?!

https://racingnews365.com/breaking-chri ... ate-effect

I think it pretty much confirms he's staying at RBR. This is what they wanted all along and now they effectively have control of that team.

If it was because Max was gone they'd have not announced this firing until after that point.

Sacking Horner after the proverbial horse has bolted, would just be throwing the baby out with the bath water. This is a preventative measure in my mind.

Preventative, possibly. But that doesn't mean they've got Max locked down already.

I really cant imagine that Max's biggest priority for his seat next year is whether Horner is the Team Principal or not. It's gonna be the car, and Horner's impact in this will be absolutely negligible.

I think if Merc can pitch enough confidence in their project next year, Max will be persuaded.

[basti313]

That is what I think too. It is the car. This is the reason why Max wants to Merc and George is desperately singing the song of loyalty instead of preparing a nice contract with RedBull.

[SB15]

Yeah looks like Max probably already signed to Mercedes, broke the news to the Redbull camp and I think that’s what lead to Christian Horner getting sacked.

The threat of Horner getting fired wasn’t up in the air until today, the threat of Max leaving would’ve gave him another chance but the action of Max signing with another team may of caused the conundrum towards Horner’s departure.

[Tonino]

The way I see it, I’m now even more convinced that Max is staying at Red Bull for 2026. I don’t see him as the type to take the risk. We can't give him a 100% guarantee that we'll be ahead next year, and he’s definitely not jumping ship before he knows what the pecking order will be.

With Horner gone, the situation at Red Bull will likely stabilize, at least until the end of the year. The championship for Max is pretty much gone for this year anyway, McLaren is way ahead, no one is catching them.

George and Kimi will be re-signed.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

The way I see it, I’m now even more convinced that Max is staying at Red Bull for 2026. I don’t see him as the type to take the risk. We can't give him a 100% guarantee that we'll be ahead next year, and he’s definitely not jumping ship before he knows what the pecking order will be.

With Horner gone, the situation at Red Bull will likely stabilize, at least until the end of the year. The championship for Max is pretty much gone for this year anyway, McLaren is way ahead, no one is catching them.

George and Kimi will be re-signed.

Perhaps he signs for 2027 but with a clause that Mercedes has to meet some performance targets by a certain point, otherwise he is free to look at other teams.

I agree that I don't think he will move without seeing where everything shakes out with the new regs.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

The Race are reporting that Max's exit clause is that he can leave if he is not in the top 3 by the end of July this year or top 2 by end of July next year.

With Russell 19 points behind Max and only Spa left, that seems unlikely to be triggered this season.

Though imagine Russell is leading in Spa with Max outside the points......

[Matt2725]

The way I see it, I’m now even more convinced that Max is staying at Red Bull for 2026. I don’t see him as the type to take the risk. We can't give him a 100% guarantee that we'll be ahead next year, and he’s definitely not jumping ship before he knows what the pecking order will be.

With Horner gone, the situation at Red Bull will likely stabilize, at least until the end of the year. The championship for Max is pretty much gone for this year anyway, McLaren is way ahead, no one is catching them.

George and Kimi will be re-signed.

Perhaps he signs for 2027 but with a clause that Mercedes has to meet some performance targets by a certain point, otherwise he is free to look at other teams.

I agree that I don't think he will move without seeing where everything shakes out with the new regs.

Wolff and Merc aren't going to be held to ransom like that. The arrogance would be off the scale and any hope of a deal would go down in flames if the Verstappen camp tried to introduce such a clause.

If anything, this situation weakens Verstappen's negotiating power as he would look desperate to abandon a sinking ship.
Ultimately I think he's staying put for next year and if Merc win it all with either driver, they have no reason to sign Max for 2027 as they simply don't need him. Every driver wants to be in the best car. That privilege isn't just reserved for Max and what he decides.

[Watto]

Horner out of RB!!

Max coming to Merc for sure !?!

https://racingnews365.com/breaking-chri ... ate-effect

Might just be a desperate attempt to keep Max.

Honestly...the absolute state of that team right now. An absolute bonfire!
I wonder if the Toto life raft to Max comes with strings attached?

The interesting one to me would be dealing with Jos. Max I think he would be fine but if Mercedes struggle next year too, I wonder how much Jos would keep quite even more how Toto would react if he undermined him publicly.

[lh13]

IMO, Max doesn't need leverage to be signed with Mercedes. He's the most marketable driver in F1 right now. Imagine him testing Mercedes GT3 cars for his own team at Nords, Spa etc. That's the stuff (or road going counterparts) Mercedes actually wants to sell. Mercedes winning a WDC will be infinitely more popular worldwide than with Russell/Antonelli. Plus he's already a 4 time champion. Every team would prefer a champion in the team. Even during his weaker years, this was the sort of value Hamilton brought to Mercedes. Not sure why Toto would want to pass this opportunity.

[AeroDynamic]

If Toto and the Mercedes board shell out massive amounts of money to buy out the rest of his contract, I do not think they’ll accept a performance clause for him to leave within a year or two.

1 Mercedes don’t need max, they have 2 drivers, one for now and one for the future, that can win them titles and take their car to the top.

2 max needs a new team more than Mercedes need a new driver, even if it is the reigning champion at the peak of his career.

If they buy his contract out he will have to commit to building Mercedes with no quick exits. It would be stupid to risk so much money on a driver that could join another team in 2027.

Red bull offering max performance clauses makes sense because they negotiated a very long contract; no driver wants to be locked into a long contract with no reasonable option to leave in case the team is unable to deliver a winning car.

Likely Merc will want a 2 year contract (no exit clause) with 3rd year as an option

[lh13]

Buying out his contract is another thing, but if Max has an exit clause, and it gets triggered this year, then it should be a no-brainer for Mercedes.