Karun Chandhok shares whether he thinks Max Verstappen will join Mercedes

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Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok has offered his take on the rumours linking Max Verstappen to Mercedes for 2025.

It emerged this week that Verstappen is currently the ‘hottest candidate’ to replace Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows ahead of the latter’s move to Ferrari.

And Chandhok has now weighed in on the speculation that the man who has won the last three world championships could be about to jump ship.

Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season but knows that a major regulation change is on the horizon for the 2026 season.

There’s also believed to be a clause in his contract with the Milton Keynes outfit that allows him to depart if director Helmut Marko leaves.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is said to have identified Verstappen as his number one choice for the seat.

Karun Chandhok doesn’t think Max Verstappen will join Mercedes

Speaking live on Sky Sports F1 ahead of Thursday’s practice sessions at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Chandhok predicted that Verstappen would stay at Red Bull for 2025.

While colleague Naomi Schiff pointed out that the Bulls are ‘a cut above’ their competitors right now, she says that could change in a couple of years.

The drivers will have an inkling of who’s well-placed for 2026, and Verstappen will want to be in the best possible position.

Chandhok said (13:08): “I don’t believe that Max is looking to go to Mercedes. It sent the rumour mill into overdrive. That’s my personal opinion – I could be proved wrong. I didn’t think Lewis would go to Ferrari, and I was wrong there.”

Schiff added (13:11): “Lewis started a chain of events. It’s almost like a Tetris game has been unleashed, and we’re going to slowly start to see where all these pieces are going to fit.

“Ultimately right now, that Red Bull is still a cut above the rest, and for Max he’ll be looking for a car that he can have championship wins with, we know that his ambitions are not to stay in Formula 1 forever.

“Essentially he’s going to go where he has promise of a good team. 2026 the engine regulations change, will Red Bull still have a dominant car? Is that Red Bull engine rumoured to be good or not? That’s something that they have more information on than we do.”

Toto Wolff responds to Max Verstappen Mercedes talk

After arriving in the paddock in Jeddah, Wolff was asked to comment on the links with Verstappen.

The Austrian said that the market of possible replacements for Hamilton is ‘very interesting’, with more than half of the grid out of contract ahead of next year.

He admits that there’s little chance of the Bahrain Grand Prix winner wanting to move ‘anytime soon’, but refused to rule out a sensational swoop for the Dutchman.

Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger believes that Verstappen could spark an exodus out if he does move on, predicting that chief designer Adrian Newey would walk too.