The 27-year-old Briton is out of contract with Mercedes next year, and his remarks bring back to the surface a narrative that always threatened to dominate this summer in Formula 1. World champion Verstappen is under contract to Red Bull until the end of 2028, but the deal is said to have break clauses that the Dutchman could use to exit.

Mercedes chief was grilled over George Russell's admission that the F1 team is talking to Max Verstappen once again

Toto Wolff has signalled a surprising openness to a potentially explosive driver pairing, suggesting Max Verstappen could join George Russell at Mercedes. This comes as Russell, fresh from a victory in Canada, believes talks with the four-time world champion and Mercedes are ongoing.