Verstappen plays down Salzburg meeting speculation
"The conversation had been planned for some time"
Max Verstappen has brushed aside fresh speculation about his future after being spotted in Salzburg earlier this week meeting Red Bull’s top leadership.
The quadruple world champion’s private jet movements have been closely tracked amid continuing rumours linking him with Mercedes.
Speculation intensified when Verstappen’s aircraft was seen travelling to England near Mercedes’ headquarters before heading to Austria, where footage later emerged showing him alongside manager Raymond Vermeulen, Red Bull co-owner Chalerm Yoovidhya, Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz and chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff.
Asked directly about the meeting, Verstappen refused to elaborate.
"If there’s anything you need to know, you’ll hear that from me," he told Dutch reporters in Barcelona.
De Telegraaf journalist Erik van Haren - close to the Verstappen camp - says the Salzburg gathering was not related to contract negotiations or an impending departure.
"To take the sting out: Verstappen did not do that in this week’s conversation either," van Haren reported.
Sources insist that "the conversation had been planned for some time, after all the agendas had been put side by side."
According to van Haren, the meeting was instead a review of the first half of the season.
The timing of the rumours is significant, though, with Red Bull enduring a difficult start to 2026 despite indications that its new Ford-backed power unit may be the strongest in the field.
Verstappen admitted on Friday that the RB22 is currently lacking performance.
"We are losing time in both the fast and the slow sections, so basically everywhere," he said.
"All day we lacked grip, feel for the car, and balance. I don’t think we can compete for the top positions.
"This is where we stand."
Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff again moved to cool speculation that Verstappen remains a target for Brackley.
Asked about George Russell’s difficult run of results and the growing championship gap to teammate Kimi Antonelli, Wolff strongly backed his current lineup.
"If he would have won Montreal or finished second, we wouldn’t talk about George’s difficult campaign," he said.
"The DNF that was caused by the team robbed him of those 25 or 18 points. Without the Monaco incidents, he would have scored solid points."
The Mercedes chief then reiterated his clearest possible message about his driver plans. "There’s nobody else I would wish to have in the team than the two we have."
Wolff rejected suggestions that Antonelli’s five-race winning streak has exposed a major gap to Russell.
"I’m always trying not to reduce Kimi’s achievements, but these two are really, when it comes to pace, when it comes to racing results, they are not far away from each other," he said.
"They keep challenging each other, which is also good.
"But it’s just a young man that has understood what the demands are of Formula 1, how to translate his talent into results.
"We’re very impressed."