Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes' need to sign Max Verstappen has faded, suggesting the Brackley outfit has already found "the next Max Verstappen" in Kimi Antonelli.

Verstappen's F1 future has been the subject of paddock rumours for some time, particularly with Red Bull struggling to keep up with Mercedes at the front of the grid in 2026. The Dutchman has been linked to the Toto Wolff-led team and, more recently, McLaren.

During an interview on the Up To Speed podcast with former driver David Coulthard and content creator Jolie Sharpe, Steiner discussed the realistic options available to Verstappen if he decides to leave the Milton Keynes squad.

"What I think the problem for Max at the moment is if you would have asked me three or four days ago, I would say going to McLaren is a sideways move, after [the Hungarian Grand Prix], maybe it isn't a sideways move, but things changed since then," Steiner explained.

"If Max goes somewhere, obviously he wants to go somewhere which is better than Red Bull, and there are not many teams around better than Red Bull.

"Maybe Red Bull at the moment is not where they want to be, at the forefront like they were a few years ago, but it's still one of the big four good teams. The seats are filled at Ferrari. At Mercedes, I think they've now found the next Max Verstappen. So, maybe they don't need the real Max Verstappen at the moment." 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Steiner argued that Red Bull still has one advantage over McLaren as it has its own power unit, whereas the Woking outfit is a customer team of Mercedes.

"Then there was McLaren, but McLaren until a few races ago, it's like, are they really better than Red Bull? Because I think Red Bull has got one advantage. They've got their own engine now, which is an advantage.

"If you have got the works engine, I mean McLaren is doing very well having a Mercedes customer engine. But in the end, [McLaren] would be the only possibility [for Verstappen], and I don't know if that possibility even exists.

"There was the rumour that maybe Oscar could go to Red Bull, but I think that is the biggest thing for Max: if Max goes somewhere, he wants to go to the best team around."

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- The Motorsport.com Team