Max Verstappen's management spent the Austrian Grand Prix weekend doing something that set the paddock talking: sitting down with McLaren. Britain's Mail Online reported on the Thursday at the Red Bull Ring that the four-time world champion's camp had held preliminary talks with McLaren CEO Zak Brown about a possible 2027 move. The meeting happened. What it means is where the sources split.
The Race's analysis poured cold water on the idea of an imminent switch, framing the contact as Verstappen's manager doing due diligence rather than the start of a defection — Brown, it noted, took the meeting after being approached because that is his job. The more likely read, The Race argued, is leverage: the Verstappen camp using what pull it still has to stop Red Bull growing complacent while the team rebuilds. As the channel put it, Verstappen's management had been quoted in the Dutch press before Austria saying he "wants to remain at Red Bull for life, but wasn't born to race in the midfield."
The backdrop matters. Red Bull's season has been a slow climb rather than a collapse — a breakthrough podium in Canada, a front-row start in Monaco wiped out when the engine died at the lights, and a flat run to fifth in Spain where Verstappen said he was "just driving around by himself." Austria was the high point: he finished second, 1.6 seconds behind race winner George Russell, dragging an improved but unreliable car into contention.
If Mercedes was the obvious refuge, that door now looks shut. Toto Wolff used the Austria weekend to confirm he is keeping Russell and Kimi Antonelli for 2027. Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether Russell was locked in and Verstappen off the radar, Wolff said: "Yeah, we don't want to change things. We've also said it to George and I think it's a lineup that's good for us. I'm very happy with the two of them."
Wolff was generous about the man he won't be signing. Asked by motorsport.com whether Red Bull's pace in Austria surprised him, he replied: "I'm not surprised at all. Red Bull is one thing, but it was Max Verstappen for me. How it feels is like Max won every single race here that he's ever participated in, in whatever car. Spielberg is one of his strong places."
Not everyone buys the drama. The Casual Fan laid out the contractual reality: Verstappen's exit clause hinges on his championship position around the Austrian Grand Prix, and while he may be able to trigger it, the channel argued he lacks a genuinely better seat for 2027 and would most likely stay at Red Bull for at least one more year regardless of the noise.
So the threads pull in different directions. The Race sees leverage; Wolff has closed Mercedes; and the contract math, as The Casual Fan reads it, still points to Red Bull. The one figure who hasn't spoken is Verstappen himself — and with Silverstone next, he won't be short of microphones.
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*Originally published on [NewsFormula.one](https://newsformula.one/article/verstappen-mclaren-talks-leverage-or-a-genuine-2027-exit). Visit for full coverage.*