Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Schumacher claims Wolff and Verstappen doomed to fail at Mercedes

Max Verstappen has been linked with a move to Mercedes in each of the last two years

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 22 January 2026 21:59

Former F1 racer Ralf Schumacher has suggested that Max Verstappen will not join Mercedes in the future because he won't work well with Toto Wolff.

Verstappen has been linked with a move to the Brackley-based outfit in each of the last two seasons, but nothing has materialised, and the Dutchman has recently reaffirmed his commitment to his Red Bull contract, which runs until the end of the 2028 season.

But despite that, rumours of a switch to another team will circulate once again if Red Bull do not provide him with a car capable of challenging for the championship in 2026.

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This year sees a complete reset of the regulations in F1, both in terms of power units as well as aerodynamic car design rules. And it is that which may see Verstappen looking around in 2026 depending on which team has mastered the new regulation changes.

But Sky Germany's Schumacher who previously raced in F1 between 1997-2007 has said that he doesn't believe Mercedes to be an option for Verstappen, because of the presence of team principal Wolff.

"What are the alternatives? I still can’t see Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff working well together," Schumacher told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

"Somehow, I don’t know why, but they just don’t seem to fit. I think a team like that would obviously do everything for Max Verstappen if they had the opportunity to do so.

"The same goes for Aston Martin, but I would say that’s partly down to Helmut, and I have to say that Max Verstappen felt extremely comfortable towards the end of last year, and you really get the feeling that they have become a unit.

"That’s why I wouldn’t question it at all, and where else does he have something like that? And I mean, the team is basically his, you have to say that."

Will Verstappen stay at Red Bull?

Recent comments about wanting to finish his career at Red Bull, or at least see out his current contract with the team, have put to bed any rumours linking Verstappen with a 2027 move away from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

But he is a four-time world champion, and would surely not accept running in the midfield if Red Bull do struggle with the new regulations.

Questions about Verstappen's long-term future will surely only intensify as the 2026 season progresses, particularly with a number of teams not having tied their drivers down beyond the end of 2026.

Time will tell as to whether Red Bull and new team principal Laurent Mekies can convince the Dutchman to stay during the team's rebuilding phase.

2026 will be the first year in Red Bull history without Christian Horner or Helmut Marko, while design legend Adrian Newey recently left the team and ex-sporting director Jonathan Wheatley quit to join Sauber back in 2024.

Max Verstappen Mercedes Toto Wolff