But while Verstappen was reportedly on Mercedes’ shopping list last year as a top-gun replacement for its then-outgoing star Lewis Hamilton

Toto Wolff said signing Max Verstappen is no longer on Mercedes' "radar" as he prepares to enter talks to extend George Russell's contract with the team. After Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes to move to Ferrari in 2025,

Mercedes are in the midst of pre-season testing in Bahrain and they anticipated some strong pace when the weather conditions changed - but that didn't turn out to be the case