Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli Mercedes F1 driver pairing green lit by Toto Wolff

Antonelli, Hamilton, Verstappen, Monaco — Photo: © IMAGO

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Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff green lights potential Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli driver pairing

Could Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli become team-mates?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 28 July 2026 08:58

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Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has said that he's 'not afraid' of putting Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen next to each other at Mercedes, claiming he's 'had worse'.

Verstappen's future at Red Bull is in doubt heading into 2027 because of the fact his Red Bull team have failed to give him a car capable of challenging for the world championship amid the regulation changes.

The Dutchman's manager Raymond Vermeulen has said that Verstappen does have exit clauses in his contract which would allow him to leave earlier than his current contract end date of 2028.

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Verstappen has been linked with a move to Mercedes in each of the last two seasons, although with although the team's current, stable lineup of Antonelli and George Russell has meant that the rumours have quietened a little in 2026.

Instead, Verstappen has been most strongly linked with a move to McLaren in recent months, to team up with 2025 champion Lando Norris at the Woking-based outfit.

But Wolff seems to have now reignited rumours of a move for Verstappen, by saying that he would not be afraid to put the four-time world champion alongside 19-year-old superstar Antonelli, who currently leads the 2026 world championship.

Wolff fails to rule out Verstappen move

However, Wolff has said that, more than anything, they need to maintain the status quo with their drivers in order to try and find some consistency and stability.

Mercedes currently lead both championships, but have had plenty of reliability issues this year, which has meant that they have not maximised the performance of the car and do not have as big a gap in the standings as they might have expected.

"We need to make the car more stable," Wolff told Sky Germany at the Hungarian Grand Prix. "Starting to change drivers now wouldn't be the right thing to do.

"You have to give Kimi time to develop. Max is driving at his peak. He can do everything. The two respect each other. They're from different generations. But having both of them in one team is, of course, a completely different starting point.

"But it's not like I'm afraid of it, I had it worse with Rosberg and Hamilton. I'd probably handle it better today.

"We're not afraid of having the two of them in the same team at some point. But in the current situation, we're happy with the dynamic between Kimi and George. We've made great progress as a team. Adding another variable now wouldn't be right for our long-term development."

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