Former F1 team owner backs Verstappen to exit Red Bull

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has backed Max Verstappen to leave Red Bull and switch to Mercedes in the near future.

Verstappen has raced for Red Bull since 2016 and has enjoyed monumental success with the energy drink-backed team, taking three world championships and over 60 grand prix wins.

However, Red Bull has endured a couple of significant exits this year, with chief technical officer Adrian Newey announcing earlier in the season that he would be leaving in early 2025.

Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull's sporting director and another key figure in its F1 success, will quit at the end of the campaign and become the team principal of Audi's F1 project.

Rumours of Verstappen's potential departure swirled earlier this year amid an intra-team power struggle, while Mercedes CEO and team boss Toto Wolff has publicly declared his interest in signing the Dutchman.

With a series of changes ongoing within Red Bull, Jordan believes it could lead Verstappen to the exit door. 

“The unrest at Red Bull, the departures of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley cannot please Max and his father,” Jordan told F1-Insider. 

“In addition, Mercedes has turned the corner and is getting stronger and stronger. 

“I would therefore be anything but surprised if Max moves to Mercedes in 2026.”

Mercedes is still yet to name a team-mate for George Russell at Mercedes for 2025, with Lewis Hamilton leaving to join Ferrari.