F1 News
Schumacher doesn't expect Mercedes-Verstappen combo: 'Will be this driver'
- Ludo van Denderen
For months, Ralf Schumacher was convinced that Max Verstappen would switch from Red Bull Racing to Mercedes for the 2025 season. Although things are still unsettled within the Austrian team, and the competition has moved a lot closer, it is now clear that Verstappen intends to continue competing for the Austrians in 2025. Ralf Schumacher, meanwhile, believes he knows who will move to Mercedes.
The story is familiar: in the first months of the season, there was chaos internally within Red Bull Racing that an (immediate) departure of Helmut Marko - and then Verstappen - was a real option. That was the period when there was initially speculation about a transfer of Verstappen to Mercedes, who are looking for a new teammate for George Russell.
Ralf Schumacher, former F1 driver and current analyst at Germany's Sky Sports, was soon convinced that it would indeed come to a transfer. At some point, the German even suspected that a deal was almost complete. Meanwhile, Verstappen has spoken out several times about his future at Red Bull. At least for the '25 season, the triple-world champion will remain with the Austrians.
'Sainz teammate of Russell, not Verstappen'
The seat at Mercedes does need to be filled. Not Verstappen nor, according to Schumacher, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, are eventually going to join the German team for the next F1 season, but Carlos Sainz. "It's starting to get a bit difficult with Carlos Sainz. People thought he was going to Williams, but that's probably no longer the case."
"At Alpine the door is open for him, but at Mercedes he still sees an opportunity because team boss Toto Wolff recently said that things had changed again. That is why I currently see Sainz alongside George Russell in 2025," Schumacher stated to the German branch of Sky Sports.