Marko confirms Verstappen stay as Russell nears Mercedes payday

Max Verstappen will remain at Red Bull for the 2026 Formula 1 season, Helmut Marko confirmed on Monday, closing the door on a high-profile move to Mercedes and affirming widespread reports that the Dutchman's contract exit clause is no longer in play.

"Yes, I can confirm that Max Verstappen will drive for Red Bull in 2026," Marko told Sport.de and RTL/ntv.

De Telegraaf reported the clause expired once Verstappen secured a top-three championship position before the summer break, a threshold now mathematically guaranteed.

The confirmation has major ramifications across the grid, particularly for Mercedes, where George Russell is now reportedly finalising terms on a lucrative £30 million per year extension.

According to The Sun, the deal is nearly complete and should be announced after the August break.

Mercedes had been increasingly linked to Verstappen throughout the year, with Toto Wolff showing keen interest amid internal turmoil at Red Bull, but Horner's recent removal as team principal and Verstappen’s decision to stay have now reshaped the landscape.

Sky Deutschland’s Ralf Schumacher believes Horner’s ousting was rooted in power consolidation gone too far.

“He gained power, wanted to seize it, and made decisions. In the end, he failed because of the Icarus syndrome. He flew too high and wanted too much,” Schumacher said.

However, Marko dismissed suggestions that Horner’s fate was sealed by any Verstappen-linked ultimatum.

“The decision to fire Horner was made by the management, or more precisely, by CEO Oliver Mintzlaff,” he told ORF. “Various factors played a role, but above all, the team's sporting performance did not meet expectations.”

“Max Verstappen and his father have nothing to do with this decision. There is no Verstappen faction in the team,” Marko added. “Previously, Horner controlled everything, which left us inferior in some areas.”

Marko said new team boss Laurent Mekies will now focus purely on racing performance, while other Red Bull departments will be split among specialist managers to increase efficiency across the 2,000-person Milton Keynes facility.

Despite a car update at Spa and another planned for Budapest, Verstappen said the team is still not at McLaren’s level.

“He’s right,” Marko admitted to Motorsport-Magazin.com. “We’re not giving up, although the solution is proving quite difficult.”

Meanwhile, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg issued a word of caution to Russell about finalising terms with Wolff.

“Toto is terrible to negotiate with because his tactic is to disappear,” Rosberg told Sky. “George might try to text Toto to get him to move on or something like that, but Toto will disappear. He’ll see the message preview, but he won’t open it. That was his style, to disappear, not to answer, and it is terrible.”