Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) of Team Netherlands looks on after the Sprint Race in the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

formula-1

Did Nelson Piquet Jr. Confirm Max Verstappen’s Mercedes Switch?

Nelson Piquet Jr. drop major hints about Max Verstappen's future

Amidst all the storm going at Red Bull Racing, the next biggest question pertains to Max Verstappen. Red Bull Racing very recently parted ways with Christian Horner. However, when it comes to Max Verstappen, the team has been battling numerous rumours for the past couple of months. Almost all of the signs point towards Max Verstappen involvement with Mercedes F1. There are reports about Toto Wolff talking to Max in hopes of winning him over to the Brackley outfit.

Max Verstappen had an emotional goodbye for his former mentor and team principal Christian Horner. The Dutchman relished his share of success with Horner backing him up at Red Bull Racing. Now that Horner has left the team, the speculations about Verstappen leaving have only increased. The current Red Bull Racing CEO did not address these rumours in his latest interview. However, someone close to Max Verstappen has revealed important information about his Formula 1 future.

Nelson Piquet Jr. Hints About Max Verstappen’s New Contract

Nelson Piquet Jr. is no longer racing in Formula 1. However, he has close ties with Formula 1 champion, Max Verstappen. Max Verstappen is the brother-in-law of Nelson Piquet Jr. In a recent episode of the Pelas Pistas podcast, Nelson Piquet Jr. was heard talking about Verstappen and the current Formula 1 season.

The talk initially started off with Mercedes’ performance in Silverstone but quickly shifted to Max Verstappen’s involvement with the team.

“It was not Mercedes’ weekend. Maybe Max will be there next year.”

Piquet Jr. immediately retorted from his previous statement when the host tried to poke further about the possibility of Verstappen’s switch to Mercedes.

Is Max set to follow Christian out of the exit door? #F1 #F1News #F12025 https://t.co/wV2iW5ERR1
— RacingNews365.com (@Racingnews365c) July 11, 2025

“No, because they talk to everybody, everybody knows that, right? But it’s an option, everybody knows that anyway.”

Piquet also claims that it is Kimi Antonelli who will get to partner with Max Verstappen and not George Russell. Nevertheless, Verstappen’s brother-in-law is sure that the four-time-champion of Formula 1 is going to break the ice soon. According to Nelson Piquet Jr, Verstappen will reveal his decision in August itself.

Now that Nelson Piquet Jr. has had his say about the ongoing situation, the stories about Max Verstappen and Mercedes are only going to spread further. First it was chatter about penalty points and race ban, now it’s about a future contract with Mercedes F1. The Dutch lion can’t seem to catch a break from the overbearing pressure of the media.

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Max Verstappen

Mercedes Formula 1 Team

Nelson Piquet Jr.

Red Bull Racing

Rohan Singh

nhl

I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.