“Max Verstappen and I are not going to Mercedes at the moment” - Helmut Marko refutes claims of a potential Silver Arrows move

Red Bull's Dr. Helmut Marko has ruled out his and Max Verstappen's move to Mercedes amidst speculations.

The Saudi Arabian GP was another victorious race for Verstappen, marking his 56th F1 win. During the weekend, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was asked if he would like Verstappen to drive for them in the future, to which he replied that he would "love to have" him. Wolff further jokingly mentioned that Helmut Marko might move to the team as well given his close association with the Dutch driver.

The speculations grew stronger after it was reported that Helmut Marko might be in friction with Red Bull given the recent scenario at the team. However, he recently revealed that neither he nor Max Verstappen will be moving to Mercedes "at the moment."

"It's a long time... I was very grateful for Max's loyalty. He impressed me. At the moment we are not going to go to Mercedes together," SoyMotor quoted Marko.

Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes as he earlier signed a contract with Ferrari for the 2025 season. His replacement on the team has not been publicly discussed yet. Owing to the turmoil within Red Bull after allegations against Christian Horner of "inappropriate behavior," it has been suggested that multiple core members, including Max Verstappen, his father Jos, Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko remain disappointed.

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Red Bull aero wizard along with Max Verstappen reportedly disappointed with team's current situation

Although the allegations against team principal Christian Horner were cleared after an investigation, they left a deep mark on the team. Tension arose after Jos Verstappen commented on the damage that the team could face because of the situation which led to rumors of Max Verstappen leaving the team.

Further, it was reported by a German publication Auto Motor und Sport that Red Bull's CTO Adrian Newey wasn't very happy with Christian Horner, either. It was mentioned that the latter wanted to focus the team more on RBR's RB17 Hypercar because of the F1 budget cap.

Adrian Newey is a major reason for the team's current dominance on the grid. His car designs provide Verstappen with the perfect machinery to get the maximum result.

Although the three-time world champion has a contract with the team until the 2028 F1 season, Horner earlier mentioned that if he insisted on leaving the team early they would not stop him.