Verstappen 'Annoyed' by Mercedes Transfer Rumors, Red Bull's Horner Claims

SPIELBERG, Austria – Recent rumors linking Max Verstappen to Mercedes have "annoyed" the four-time world champion, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. The speculation arose over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, acknowledged his interest in Verstappen on Friday but clarified on Saturday that the probability of the Red Bull driver switching teams was "very low."

Wolff also emphasized that any potential move for Verstappen would be a "long-term" prospect, as the driver is currently contracted with Red Bull until 2028.

The speculation intensified after Mercedes driver George Russell indicated that contract renewal discussions were delayed due to the team's interest in Verstappen.

Horner downplayed the rumors after Saturday's qualifying session in Austria, where Verstappen secured the seventh-fastest time.

"It's a lot of noise," Horner told Sky Sports. "I think Max gets quite annoyed by it. We're very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028. Anything is entirely speculative. We tend not to pay too much attention to it."

Horner added: "I can imagine that George is frustrated he hasn't been given a contract yet. But that's between him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we're at and as does Max. 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 aborting his fastest lap in the final sector due to yellow flags caused by Pierre Gasly's spin.

The Red Bull driver, currently third in the drivers' standings, 43 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, said his car lacked the pace to challenge Lando Norris for pole position.

"It would have been close, potentially, up until the yellow flag -- but it's still miles off pole," Verstappen stated. "In the end, it's not really that painful."

He elaborated: "FP3 wasn't too bad but somehow in quali it just completely disappeared. There was not a single corner I felt happy in the car and then that is of course a big problem in qualifying."

When asked about his approach to the championship standings, Verstappen said: "Depends how you look at it ... I don't really look at the standings, I just try to do the best I can in 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 quali that is not going to look great tomorrow. We'll analyse everything."