Ralf Schumacher voices Toto Wolff prediction in Max Verstappen pursuit

Ralf Schumacher does not believe Toto Wolff will "give up" trying to sign Max Verstappen from Red Bull, despite the Dutchman having now confirmed he will be staying put for the 2026 F1 season.

That means the four-time F1 drivers' champion will usher in the new regulatory era with the Milton Keynes-based squad and, as a result, will be well-positioned to assess which team may be the best landing spot, should he choose to leave his current employer.

Despite being contracted to the Milton Keynes-based squad until the end of 2028, there has been considerable noise around Verstappen's future over the past 18 months, something the Mercedes team principal has taken advantage of.

What began last year, in part as a way to antagonise now-departed Red Bull boss Christian Horner, developed into concrete talks earlier in the summer about a switch to the eight-time constructors' champions.

But those discussions, at least when centred on 2026, were reliant on a break clause in Verstappen's existing deal, which stipulated he could trigger the provision if he were outside the top three in the drivers' standings at the summer break.

Before that became guaranteed at the Belgian Grand Prix, the penultimate round prior to the shutdown, it did, however, become increasingly apparent that Verstappen would stay put, with Wolff declaring his intention to re-sign George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for next season.

The Red Bull driver verbally committed to remaining with the six-time constructors' champions soon after, with the team insisting that was his intention all along.

Conversations between Wolff and Verstappen may well have been predicated on 2027, and although the 27-year-old will not move to Mercedes for next year, a future switch remains a very real possibility.

And Schumacher does not feel the Austrian will stop trying, regardless of how happy he is with his current driver line-up.

"2026 is going to be exciting in any case, because how is it going to run with those new cars?" the former Jordan, Williams and Toyota driver said on Sky Sports Germany's F1 podcast Backstage Boxengasse. "Who will be the best at that?

"Maybe Red Bull will succeed in building a good car, then it [the speculation surrounding Verstappen's future] will not be like that.

"Still, I don't think Toto Wolff will give up. If a team can get the best driver in the world, and at the moment that is Verstappen, you have to try." 

The new F1 rules set brings considerable uncertainty over how the competitive picture will look when the campaign gets underway.

For Red Bull, which is becoming a power unit manufacturer for the first time and entering its first new era without Adrian Newey, there is added jeopardy.

If it does not stay high up the F1 pecking order, Verstappen could again become unsettled, and RacingNews365 understands there is another break clause in his contract that can be activated if he is outside the top two in the drivers' standings come the summer break next term.

Mercedes, meanwhile, is widely expected to start the next generation on the front foot, with its power unit anticipated to be the class leader, as it was in 2014 when the rules last changed.