Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss who never met a hot take he didn't like, says Mercedes no longer needs Max Verstappen. The reason? They've already found "the next Max Verstappen" in Kimi Antonelli. That's a bold claim for a kid who hasn't turned a wheel in F1, but it speaks to how quickly the Verstappen sweepstakes has cooled. Red Bull's 2026 struggles had the paddock buzzing about a Mercedes move, with McLaren thrown in as a backup. Steiner poured cold water on both. Ferrari's seats are locked, Mercedes is betting on Antonelli, and McLaren—despite their Hungarian GP win—is still a customer team without its own power unit. That leaves Verstappen with what Steiner calls "the biggest problem": if he jumps, where does he land that's actually better than Red Bull? The answer, for now, is nowhere.
Read the full story at Motorsport.comMERCEDES NO LONGER NEEDS MAX VERSTAPPEN, SAYS GUENTHER STEINER
Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss who never met a hot take he didn't like, says Mercedes no longer needs Max Verstappen. The reason? They've already found "the next Max Verstappen" in Kimi Antonelli. That's a bold claim for a kid who hasn't turned a wheel in F1, but it speaks to how quickly the Verstappen sweepstakes has cooled. Red Bull's 2026 struggles had the paddock buzzing about a Mercedes move, with McLaren thrown in as a backup. Steiner poured cold water on both. Ferrari's seats are locked, Mercedes is betting on Antonelli, and McLaren—despite their Hungarian GP win—is still a customer team without its own power unit. That leaves Verstappen with what Steiner calls "the biggest problem": if he jumps, where does he land that's actually better than Red Bull? The answer, for now, is nowhere.
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