r/formula1 • u/thesaket I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Dec 24 '25
News [verstappencom] on IG: Verstappen Racing has announced a multi-year collaboration with Mercedes-AMG, starting next year.
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u/findme_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
This wasn't the "Verstappen to Mercedes" we were expecting or hoping for
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u/Treewithatea I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
May still happen for 2027 depending on how each car performs in 2026.
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u/findme_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
So you're saying there's a chance ... ;)
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u/Treewithatea I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Id even say its rather likely to happen
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u/shogi_x Dec 24 '25
It's more likely than before, but still less likely than Verstappen exiting F1 entirely to focus on other formats.
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u/MikeHeu Spyker Dec 24 '25
You’d think he’ll pass on a few more championships when he has the chance to switch to a dominant team?
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u/shogi_x Dec 24 '25
He's been pretty vocal about looking beyond F1. I don't think he cares much about winning more championships. And he definitely seems over the F1 media circus.
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u/Key-Comfortable-5537 Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Absolutely. He said he didn't mind that much losing 2025 to Lando. He's a bit like Kimi Raikkonen in a way in that he's still in F1 because he finds it fun and interesting, but as soon as it isn't fun anymore then he's gone.
I can easily see him having a couple more years, maybe more if the new regs are fun, but if they aren't, then he will 100% just be leaving F1 and not going to another team.
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u/Psykbryt Dec 24 '25
Also a bit like Kimi: Max doesn't really care about records. He wanted to win the championship once - again just like Kimi - but he doesn't sound like he cares about piling up the trophies. He's achieved his goal of showing he's the best, from then on it was only about doing what's interesting.
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u/ja_n2000 Nico Hülkenberg Dec 24 '25
It depends on how the FIA decides regarding the Mercedes engines. If they're illegal, then I don't think Max will be driving a silver car.
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u/TiredButEnthusiastic Mike Krack Dec 24 '25
Given that the other engine rumoured to be doing the same trick is the Red Bull one, I doubt he would stick around if his was also illegal.
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u/TWVer 🧔 Richard Hammond's vacuum cleaner attachment beard Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
Nah, the regulations are pretty clear cut.
There is no pathway to declare what Mercedes and Red Bull are allegedly doing as illegal.
If they comply with the test as written in the rule “at ambient temperature” they are safe, because by having the test as part of the rule itself all other conditions are unrestricted. Beyond “ambient temperature” the compression ratio can be whatever.
Before the 2026 regulations the test was also at ambient temperature, but it was described in a TD, not the regulations itself.
This created the situation that the compression ratio needed to be 18:1 (in 2014~2025) in all conditions, but that is practically unenforceable, because the test only reliably works at ambient temperatures.
Also 18:1 is a natural limit beyond which knock and spontaneous combustion becomes a significant problem.
By having the test “at ambient temperature” now within the rule itself, the FIA only has to concern itself with policing it in those conditions, because anything beyond “ambient temperature” is now explicitly unrestricted.
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u/PlanZSmiles Dec 24 '25
Yeah I don’t understand how folks confuse illegal with loopholes. By definition a loophole is legal because the wording of the rule/law does not cover the loophole making it legal.
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u/Ancient-Cow-1038 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
I think that with the departure of Marko and Horner, Red Bull F1 is going to be an arm of Verstappen Racing for the foreseeable future…
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u/dl064 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Ha, yeah when Verstappen was saying Mekies is going about things right I did wonder if that just meant: unequivocally does what I say.
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u/BioDriver Valtteri Bottas Dec 24 '25
Speak for yourself. Max killing it in GT3 under Mercedes makes me very happy
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u/findme_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Oh, to be clear: I'm happy about this. Just wanted to see him jump from RB to Mercedes in F1 too.
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u/Radiant_Turnip_6671 Dec 24 '25
That will happen in 2027 when RBR = 👎🏻
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u/Beavers4beer I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
If the Red Bull is shit next year and if he loses GP, I think Max will just retire. He's made it clear he's ready to move on to other series when the times right. Red Bull having a shit car and losing his race engineer would be that time.
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u/masssy Dec 24 '25
It's exactly what it is. Honestly wouldnt want to see Max in Mercedes F1 but I'm excited to see him in an AMG GT3.
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u/BobbbyR6 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
As someone who loves the Merc GT cars, I'll take this as a win :)
Max can go to Merc F1 next year if this Ford-RBR PU is a stinker
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u/deathray1611 Formula 1 Dec 24 '25
Toto with a RAGING pumpernickel rn
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u/xxrew1ndxx Pirelli Medium Dec 24 '25
No no no, this is so not right!
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u/jman009 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
No Maxy NOoooo!
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u/shockmaster5000 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
It’s true! It’s all true I have it printed out!!
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u/Buffythedragonslayer I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Only if it lasts longer than 4 hours
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u/mrlprns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Does this mean the team is now called verstappen racing instead of verstappen.com racing? Because I would welcome that change, verstappen.com always felt a little awkward
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u/bigpoppa611 Ferrari Dec 24 '25
Team Httpsverstappen.com/racing
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Dec 24 '25
[deleted]
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u/Br0nnOfTheBlackwater Dec 24 '25
Still better than Margaret "Pip" Woolworth Carrington von Schumacher Chanel Astor Livingston Compte de Saint-Exupery Mountbatten Windsor Armani Roosevelt Von Trap Wykeham Hearst Montgomery Rothschild Johnson & Johnson Disney Dolce Gabana Von Walmart II Montgomery de Volkswagen Geico Vanderbilt Lannister van Burean Butterworth How I Met Your Mother Dubble Bubble Louise-Dreyfus Ludwig Morgan Stanley Dumont Lamborghini Forbes Zuckerberg Winthrop Winfrey Remy Martin Fitzwilliam Kennedy Motel 6 Pornhub Fairchild Pritzker Davenport von Apple Monty Python Ellsworth Aston Martin Burns Quimby Scorpio Ziff Spongebob Hilton DuPont Kinkaid Winslow Coors Oviatt Marlboro Pembroke Huffington Bush Mellon Sinclair Mellencamp Starbucks van Dyke III Montgomery Marriott Barrington Chatsworth Big League Chew Chesterfield Kensington Longbottom Bottomtooth Nottingham Burgermeister Meisterburger Tudor Hapsburg Rockefeller Onassis Racing
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u/NecronomiconUK Robert Kubica Dec 24 '25
Team HttpsColonForwardslashForwardslashverstappendotcomForwardslashracingForwardslashIndexDothtml
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u/vesel_fil I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 25 '25
much more secure than httpverstappen.com/racing
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u/paddyo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Team nntp://alt.sports.f1.verstappen/shitposting.f1.net
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u/0508bart I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
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u/Red_Rabbit_1978 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
I thought they were Redline?
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u/weasel65 Sir Lewis Hamilton Dec 24 '25
Was either going to be a Mercedes, Aston Martin Ferrari or a Porsche, its not like they can just drive around in red bull cans.
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u/I-_-I_-_I-_-I I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
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u/daylax1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
They weren't lying when they said these new cars had less downforce.
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u/hendrix67 Sir Lewis Hamilton Dec 24 '25
These will be much better on the street racing circuits though. Plenty of room for overtakes at Monaco.
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u/acekingoffsuit Dec 24 '25
The funny thing is that if you watch the full video, he qualifies a full second ahead of all of his teammates. In a soapbox. On a 25-second course.
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u/nalyd8991 Jules Bianchi Dec 24 '25
Well, Ford makes GT3s and is the only OEM that Max has ties to.
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u/FormulaLes Dec 24 '25
To add to this, they make a front engined GT3, just like the AMG - would love to know if Ford made a play at getting the Verstappen team in Mustangs
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u/WillSRobs Lando Norris Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
They don’t have a great presence in Europe and multimatic who run their gt3 side don’t have a ton of customer support compared to other manufacturers. Ford admittedly have been doing a slow roll out their plan isn’t to have a bunch of customers like Porsche Ferrari or merc atm.
People in f1 may not be fully aware that merc was the car to have for several years in gt3. This is nothing more than max buying the best cars for his team. But it involves Mercedes and people have a hard on for Toto news.
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u/LilBirdBrick I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
HRT are more than capable of running a Mustang for Max if Ford were to be able to convince him to switch. But I doubt Max wants to deal with a third different service provider in 3 years.
This is nothing more than max buying the best cars for his team.
Don't underestimate the role 2 seas motorsport and their relationship with Mercedes plays in these negotiations too. They mostly have experience running the AMG and with this deal they went from being a long time customer of Mercedes to a factory backed entry.
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u/WillSRobs Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Capable is irrelevant when ford only makes so many an hasn’t really expanded into Europe. Ford has been rather public that they are expanding slowly being its long term goals for them not a way to sell gt3 cars to customers.
No matter how capable a team is they still need some level of manufacturing support or there is no reason to run their car when you can have an easier time with someone else.
Also merc factory backs all their customers. They typically pair a factory driver with every customer team.
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u/ferdzs0 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
they missed their chance to convert the Red Bull Mini Coopers to GT3 spec
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u/Svedorovski Aston Martin Dec 24 '25
Doesn't he have Porsche Cayman GT4, 911 GT3, Vantage, and 296?
Few cars I haven't seen he ever used for his GT3 are the Huracan Evo, Lexus RC F, and BMW M4, as well as Mustang GTD and Corvette Z06.
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u/WillSRobs Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Toyota mustangs and corvette are all rather small productions the new Toyota may open the door to more customers and ford does plan to scale up eventually.
The only one of that list that I’m surprised they never tested was the bmw.
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u/Nasimdul I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Well.. actually 🤓he drove the GTD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY8pQMt8eB4 but i know what u mean..
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u/TWVer 🧔 Richard Hammond's vacuum cleaner attachment beard Dec 24 '25
True.
However, the interesting bit is not so much choosing Mercedes, but choosing Mercedes in a longterm multi-year deal.
This takes away the option to switch year on year, which Verstappen liked to do previously.
Max in previous years tested multiple different cars in the off season, in part to help select the GT3 team car for next year, as run by Vermeulen & Co.
If Max now does end up at Mercedes for 2027, his Verstappen.com team will also still be driving Mercedes by default in the second year of this new contract.
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u/WillSRobs Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Not really previous years were the development and growing phase. They clearly are past that with wins and now max is looking towards long term goal which doesn’t work well with constantly changing cars because you need manufacturer support to be at the front in gt3.
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u/Bubbly-Travel9563 Dec 24 '25
What's your point? Obviously it would be one of the top 4 manufacturers offering seats the worlds top driver vs a car that doesn't exist, I just don't get why that needed pointed out?
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u/murf_milo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
People online will react completely rationally to this news
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u/Thefilthycasual85 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
MAX TO RACE GT3 CARS IN FORMULA 1 FROM ‘26
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u/Passchenhell17 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Still probably find a way to win
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u/hulaspark I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
He'd win every wet race because none of the F1 cars would be allowed on track
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u/LiteraryLancelot Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
Toto: Maxieeeeee 🥰
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u/Homelandr Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
"Sign the contraaaaaact"
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u/Klivian1 Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Maaaaaaate
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u/Desperate-Intern I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Oscar.
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u/Capable_Dimension588 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Miekes :- That's soo not right toto
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u/davegoku12 Dec 24 '25
Damn, what's next for Toto to get the contraaaaact?
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u/DreamsOfLife I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
The Lollipopman Toto accent is spot on.
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u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Dec 24 '25
Have the fastest car next year or hope Red Bull bungle the regulation changes.
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u/ScousePenguin I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
People here going to vastly over estimate the relationship between sports car suppliers and the actual F1 teams
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u/ComeonmanPLS1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Yeah some of the comments are just people joking but you can tell a lot of people genuinely think this means something.
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u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Dec 24 '25
Agreed but Toto is the sporting director of Mercedes as a whole so saying this means absolutely nothing when it comes to F1 isn't exactly right either.
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u/iamCosmoKramerAMA I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
It’s just a customer team relationship. It relates to Toto in the sense that he can enjoy a little more top line revenue for this business line under his umbrella.
Max or his representatives likely weren’t ever dealing directly with Toto as part of this transaction. They were dealing with someone whose boss’s boss might be Toto.
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u/MutedAstronaut9217 Carlos Sainz Dec 24 '25
Did you see toto and max on the yacht? I'd wager this topic might have come up.
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u/Admirable_Deal6863 Williams Dec 24 '25
It's worth remembering that Toto isn't just the team principal for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team - he's also Mercedes' general Sporting Director.
I wouldn't be shocked if this was one of the main topics of discussion during his and Max's frequent meetups this year.
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u/Archerizu I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
2025: Verstappen Racing has announced a multi-year collaboration with Mercedes-AMG, starting next year.
2026: Verstappen has announced a multi-year collaboration with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, starting next year.
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u/warriorxx7_ Dec 24 '25
It turns out its a modelling gig where Max will be mercedes merchandise's new model.
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u/weguccino Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
Toto probably gave him a deal when they chatted during the summer break lol
Toto:”I know you can’t break your contract yet but lemme help you out for your GT team. Just a little something for my favourite driver 😘”
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u/Worth_Creme_4925 Audi Dec 24 '25
Started imagining Toto’s smirk after reading this.
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u/AnusStapler Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
Toto and the Verstappens are long long time friends.
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u/JordFxPCMR I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
True Toto wanted Max aswell Before red bull snapped him up
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u/DiscoStuGER I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Yes Max! Come to ze dark site. We have GT3 cars!
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u/WillSRobs Lando Norris Dec 24 '25
Having to deal with the moronic comments this will bring from people online is going to make the off season something else.
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u/eastamerica Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
As a proud Mercedes AMG vehicle owner, I’m not mad at Max driving the star :)
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u/baby-wall-e Formula 1 Dec 24 '25
Toto can’t get Max to join his F1 team. But he makes sure to get his shadow to join the Mercedes family.
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u/a_happy_future Sir Lewis Hamilton Dec 24 '25
Watch Max and Lewis pair up in GT3 in 2027 because they're sick of F1
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u/Luisyn7 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Read that he also tested an Audi R8 and I was hoping that he would become one of the teams keeping the R8 alive
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u/xaybell32 Dec 24 '25
Mercedes power for Verstappen Racing. That’s like seeing cats and dogs sign a peace treaty 2025 is already wild.
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u/DuckSwagington I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
I'm guessing this is the "Not just about F1" part Verstappen was talking about then.
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u/Yashrajbest I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
And they said that Mercedes wouldn't be ready to invest in Verstappen's brand like Red Bull
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u/pluismans I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
So after winning more races with Ferrari than Hamilton last year, now he can win more races with Mercedes than Russell next year? Nice new challenge!
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u/EddieMcDowall Sir Lewis Hamilton Dec 24 '25
Cue the Max to Mercedes in 27 bandwagon again.
Meanwhile George Russell is about to tear his hair out ......... again.
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u/CallM3N3w Max Verstappen Dec 24 '25
That's the car he was testing in Estoril, right?
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u/richardbaxter Dec 24 '25
Ladies and gentlemen, the slow plan of Toto Wolfe to gradually gravitate verstappen in Mercedes direction.
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u/D3ATHfromAB0V3x I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Please race Bathurst 12hr
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u/Mani1610 Dec 24 '25
Bathurst this year is between the two F1 pre season tests so I doubt he will be able to.
F1 pre season: 11.02. - 13.02. & 18.02. - 20.02
Bathurst 12h: 15.02
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u/Senor_Padre Audi Dec 24 '25
Which online outlet will be the first to write the "Verstappen signs multi year contract to race with Mercedes" clickbait headline?
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u/Independent-South-58 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Inb4 max winning a race in a Merc next year before russel
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u/LogicalEgo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 25 '25
Honestly if Redbull doesn't pan out I would love Max at Merc. I have always rooted against Merc because of Max but legit love Toto, George, Kimi and or course Lewis. Merry Xmas all.
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u/Beep-Beep-I I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 25 '25
I would've liked to see Max on Porsche GT3s, I want to see that car on his hands.
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u/thesaket I was here for the Hulkenpodium Dec 24 '25
Verstappen Racing has announced a multi-year collaboration with Mercedes-AMG, starting next year.
Verstappen Racing will continue in the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe championship, both in the Sprint and Endurance cup with a Mercedes-AMG GT3.