F1 News: Insider says Mercedes 'get Max Verstappen for free' in pivotal driver trade

Max Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull, Mercedes, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 insider says Mercedes 'get Verstappen for free' in pivotal driver trade

This transfer would seriously shock the F1 paddock

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 2 July 2026 08:15

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Max Verstappen holds all the cards to the 2026 F1 championship silly season and until he fully commits himself to Red Bull, speculation about his future will persist.

The Dutchman is currently contracted to race for the energy drink giants until at least the end of the 2028 campaign, and though he wants to remain loyal, he does have an exit clause in his contract.

The exact details of that clause haven't been publicly confirmed, but reportedly allow him to activate an early exit if he isn't in the top two of the drivers' standings by the end of this month (when the post-Hungarian GP summer break rolls around).

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As was the case last summer, the conditions of Verstappen's contract means he is frequently brought up as a potential player in the driver market, especially where Mercedes are concerned.

Toto Wolff appears to have committed to George Russell for 2027, with the British driver telling media in Austria that he will '100 per cent' be driving for Mercedes in 2027, and his boss backing that up by revealing to Sky Sports: "We don’t want to change things."

But no-one is talking about what the future holds for Kimi Antonelli.

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Antonelli to Ferrari

The 19-year-old has proved so far in 2026 that he can handle the pressure of stepping into the seat previously held by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows.

With eight rounds of the championship done and dusted, the Italian teenager leads the drivers' standings and boasts a 40-point advantage over Russell.

Yet he too is only contracted with Mercedes until the end of 2026.

Pair Antonelli's impressive sophomore season with the fact that Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is currently going through a rough patch and suddenly you'll have the entirety of Bologna screaming 'Forza Kimi' from the top of their lungs.

The idea that Fred Vasseur would drop Leclerc seems far-fetched right now, especially when the Monegasque star has just signed a multi-year extension that is rumoured to see him race in red into the 2030s.

But there's still Hamilton to consider. Who's to say the seven-time champion won't pick up an eighth title this year and decide to call it a day?

Would Wolff let go of Antonelli to get Verstappen 'for free'?

The latest episode of the High Performance Racing podcast aired after the Austrian GP where Hamilton finished P5 and Leclerc could only manage P8, as Jake Humphrey, Otmar Szafnauer and Rob Smedley mused over whether there would be space for Antonelli at Ferrari anytime soon.

Podcast host Humphrey kicked off the debate, saying: "Kimi Antonelli, Italian driver leading the world championship, could be world champion this season. Out of contract at Mercedes at the end of the season we believe.

"Why wouldn't Ferrari go and get him when they can get him? Like, now's the moment."

Antonelli has given Italian motorsport fans a driver to root for again

Former Alpine boss Szafnauer appeared to agree before ex-Ferrari engineer Smedley chimed in, seemingly the only one who was able to bring the conversation back into the realm of what is actually possible.

“Because his manager also owns a third of Mercedes,” Smedley said.

When clarifying whether Mercedes team principal Wolff is actually Antonelli's manager on paper or not, Szafnauer added: "Well, he brought him up, right?"

He then zoned in on what Wolff could do to ensure he gets something out of a hypothetical move to Ferrari for the Italian, saying: "What if you sell Kimi to Ferrari and put Max in? You get Max for free." Smedley replied: "Yeah, but that's exactly it, right? So Toto would want to do that, wouldn't he? You would want to say, ‘I've got a better option.’ That's the only way that one of those two drivers are out of contract or Kimi’s out of contract that he manages or George that he manages.”

How Wolff could sell Antonelli to Ferrari

Mapping out the deal further, Szafnauer said: "You go to Fred and say, ‘Fred, I'll sell you Kimi.’ Give me enough money where Max is now free or Max and George are free.”

Smedley continued: "It's got to make sense. I think the only way that either of the two Mercedes drivers would end up anywhere else, because Toto holds all the cards here, he gives them their contract plus he also looks for other opportunities for them.

"So the only way is if he has a better option and the only better option guaranteed better option right now than the two that he's got is Max."

Referring to the flirting that has previously gone on between the Silver Arrows boss and the four-time champion, Smedley concluded: "He made it clear that he wants Max."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Ferrari Mercedes Toto Wolff