Jos Verstappen responds to 'Max Verstappen to Mercedes' rumors stirred up by McLaren boss Zak Brown

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's father Jos shut down claims made by McLaren CEO Zak Brown regarding his son joining Mercedes next year. There have been a lot of rumors surrounding the future of the 27-year-old with the Austrian team since the start of the 2024 season when an internal power struggle within the Red Bull organization made constant headlines.

Although the Dutch driver stuck with the Milton Keynes outfit last year and even won his fourth successive drivers championship with them, the reports of him joining Mercedes have not subsided completely.

In his exclusive interview with The Telegraph, McLaren CEO Zak Brown made a bold prediction which saw Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull for Mercedes and even gave some compelling arguments, saying:

“Oh, I think he’ll leave at the end of this year. Most likely to Merc [Mercedes]. There’s been talk of Aston Martin, too, with Adrian Newey joining. But as great as Adrian is – and he’s the greatest ever – you need a whole team around you. You need the culture. That takes time.

"If I was betting, I’d bet on Merc. In the last 10 years, they’ve won the championship seven or eight times. Last year they won five races. They have stability. We know Toto likes him. And I think we all feel HPP is best-equipped on the power unit side heading into the new engine regulations next year,"he added.

However, McLaren CEO's comments were shut down by former F1 driver and Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen, as he said in the comments section of the post:

"He is only trying to steer s***."

Jos Verstappen replies to Zak Brown...Credits-Getty

Max Verstappen has a long-term contract with Red Bull that expires at the end of the 2028 season.

Max Verstappen previews the 2025 Chinese GP this weekend

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen emphasised the importance of setting up the car quickly and correctly during the upcoming Chinese GP given it will be the first sprint weekend of the calendar.

The reigning four-time F1 world champion started the 2025 season on a Positive note as he finished under a second behind McLaren driver Lando Norris at the end of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix last weekend, and came home in P2.

As per GPBlog, the 63-time F1 race winner reflected:

"It is the first Sprint weekend of the season so we need to make sure we have the best set up of the car possible and score as many points as we can. We don’t have a huge amount of time to turn everything around, especially with just one practice session, but the team are working hard to improve."

Max Verstappen dominated the Chinese GP last year and won both the Sprint and the main race, along with his pole position.