In the Spielberg circuit, Austria, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that the recent speculation linking Max Verstappen with Mercedes has generated “annoyance” in the world champion during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes director, confirmed his interest in Verstappen on Friday, although on Saturday he downplayed the chances of the Red Bull driver changing teams, calling the probability “very low.” Wolff also clarified that any possible incorporation of Verstappen would be “long-term,” given that the Red Bull driver has a contract in force until 2028.
The news resonated in the Red Bull Ring paddock after George Russell, Mercedes driver, mentioned that the negotiations for the renewal of his contract had been delayed due to his team’s interest in Verstappen.
Horner tried to downplay the speculation after Saturday’s qualifying in Austria, where Verstappen only managed the seventh-best time.
It’s a lot of noise. I think Max feels quite annoyed by it. We are very clear about the contract we have with Max until 2028. Anything that is said is pure speculation. We don’t usually pay too much attention to it.
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
Christian Horner ha dicho que Max Verstappen ha sido molestado por la especulación que lo vincula con Mercedes.Horner added: “I can imagine George is frustrated for not having received a contract yet. But that’s a matter for him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we stand, and Max knows it too. Everything is subject to noise and, with any contract, it remains confidential between the parties.”
Verstappen qualified seventh for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix after being forced to abort his fastest lap in the final sector, due to yellow flags following Pierre Gasly’s spin.
The Red Bull driver, currently third in the drivers’ standings and 43 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, stated that his car was not up to par to compete with Lando Norris for pole position on Saturday.
Verstappen commented: “It would have been close, potentially, until the yellow flag, but still miles off the pole. In the end, it’s not that painful.”
“The third free practice wasn’t too bad, but somehow in qualifying it just completely disappeared. There wasn’t a single corner where I felt happy with the car and that, of course, is a big problem in qualifying.”
“It depends on how you look at it… I don’t really look at the classification, I just try to do the best I can on the race weekend. Hopefully, tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari or Mercedes, but I don’t know, because with the balance I had in qualifying, that’s not going to be good tomorrow. We will analyze everything.”
