Verstappen 'Annoyed' by Mercedes Rumors, Red Bull's Horner Claims

SPIELBERG, Austria -- Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stated that the recent speculation linking Max Verstappen to Mercedes has "annoyed" the four-time world champion during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff confirmed his interest in Verstappen on Friday but clarified on Saturday that there was "a very low probability" of the Red Bull driver being lured away.

Wolff also emphasized that any prospect of Verstappen joining would be a "long-term" consideration, as the Red Bull driver is currently under contract until 2028.

The news gained traction in the Red Bull Ring paddock after Mercedes driver George Russell mentioned that his own contract renewal talks were being delayed due to his team's interest in Verstappen.

Horner downplayed the speculation following qualifying in Austria on Saturday, where Verstappen secured the seventh-fastest time.

"It's a lot of noise," Horner told Sky Sports. "I think Max gets quite annoyed by it. We're very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028. Anything is entirely speculative that is being said. We tend not to pay too much attention to it."

"I can imagine that George is frustrated he hasn't been given a contract yet. But that's between him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we're at and as does Max. Everything is subject to noise and with any contract it remains confidential between the parties."

Verstappen qualified seventh for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix after he was forced to abort his fastest lap in the final sector due to yellow flags displayed following a spin by Pierre Gasly.

The Red Bull driver, who is currently third in the drivers' standings and 43 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, said his car was not capable of challenging Lando Norris for pole position on Saturday.

"It would have been close, potentially, up until the yellow flag -- but it's still miles off pole," Verstappen said. "In the end, it's not really that painful."

"FP3 wasn't too bad but somehow in quali it just completely disappeared. There was not a single corner I felt happy in the car and then that is of course a big problem in qualifying."

"Depends how you look at it ... I don't really look at the standings, I just try to do the best I can in the race weekend. Hopefully tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari, or Mercedes, but I don't know because with the balance I had in quali that is not going to look great tomorrow. We'll analyse everything."