Mercedes play Max Verstappen waiting game amid Helmut Marko's plans of..

Mercedes are reportedly prepared to wait until October to finalise their F1 2025 driver lineup, with the team holding out in the hope of luring Max Verstappen from Red Bull.

And the Silver Arrows’ extended timescale could work in Verstappen‘s favour amid concerns that long-serving Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko remains vulnerable to a potential power grab by team principal Christian Horner.

Mercedes are reportedly prepared to wait until October to finalise their F1 2025 driver lineup, with the team holding out in the hope of luring Max Verstappen from Red Bull.

After an investigation into Horner’s conduct was dismissed in February, Verstappen’s father Jos raised doubts over his son’s future by publicly calling for the team principal to resign following the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix accusing Horner of “playing the victim when he is the one causing the problems.”

revealed in March that Verstappen’s future is inextricably linked to that of Marko, with the three-time World Champion’s contract believed to contain a clause – potentially inserted without the knowledge of Horner and senior members of Red Bull’s parent company – allowing Verstappen to walk away if Marko is dismissed.

Reports in Germany last month claimed Verstappen is “stuck in a corner” in the driver market, with any commitment to Red Bull beyond this season likely to signal the green light for Horner to step up plans to oust Marko against the backdrop of the ongoing power struggle within the team since the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022.

And in a new development, it has been claimed that the uncertainty over Verstappen’s future could continue until the closing weeks of the current season.

With Mercedes the only realistic alternative available to Verstappen, an early decision by Wolff would leave Marko exposed to the plot of Horner, who would be empowered to act in the knowledge that Red Bull’s star driver has nowhere else to go.