Adrian Newey's manager speculates on "Max Verstappen to Mercedes" rumors: "Is this something that’s unfolding?"

Adrian Newey's manager and former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan speculated that Max Verstappen's potential move to Mercedes could be "something that's unfolding". Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has publicly courted the three-time world champion for next season's seat on the German team as a replacement for the departing Lewis Hamilton.

Although both Red Bull and Verstappen have largely refuted the rumors, as he has an existing contract with the Austrian team until the end of the 2028 season, the rumors have not subsided.

While appearing on the Formula for Success podcast, Adrian Newey's manager Jordan gave his take on how Verstappen could be convinced to join Mercedes, saying (via PlanetF1):

“Max drives for Christian and Toto has made it very clear he wants and will get Max into a Mercedes by ’26, hopefully by ’25. Now when people make those kinds of comments, I have to think, the conspiracy inside my head tells me: ‘Is this something that’s unfolding?’

“Now it’s probably not, but nevertheless it goes through my mind is Max, because we clearly know that Max’s father and Christian don’t get on, and a lot of this revolves around Helmut Marko,” he added.

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Max Verstappen previews the Belgian GP this weekend

Max Verstappen stated that it would be difficult for him to win a fourth consecutive race at his favorite track, Spa-Francorchamps, given he would be likely taking a 10-place grid penalty for the race due to the team needing to change power unit components in the RB20. He said it was likely to come at this weekend's race.

As per F1.com, when asked about the suitability of the circuit for taking a grid penalty, the Red Bull driver said:

“We’ll find out on Sunday how good that is going to be, right? Some tracks naturally are a bit better than others. Of course on a street circuit, you wouldn’t want to have an engine penalty. So yeah, most likely it will be here.”

The 26-year-old further emphasized that he would be focusing on 'damage limitation' as a win was unlikely given the current form, adding:

"If you look at our last few races where we haven’t particularly been the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 places extra we have a chance of winning. But again, a race can always be turned upside down in moments. We have to be open-minded and try to make the best of it. That’s what we’ll try to do. At the moment, I also don’t know how competitive we’re going to be here." he added.

For the first time since the end of the 2021 season, Verstappen has failed to win in three consecutive races, as he finished on the podium in Silverstone only, along with a pair of P5 finishes in Austria and Hungary.

He still holds a healthy lead of 76 points over Lando Norris but that could be dented if he fails to finish ahead of the McLaren driver.