{"id":369752,"date":"2025-12-24T23:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T23:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369752\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T23:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T23:00:09","slug":"max-verstappen-officialises-switch-to-mercedes-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/369752\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen officialises switch to Mercedes for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/f1-drivers\/max-verstappen\" title=\"Max Verstappen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Max Verstappen<\/a>\u2019s racing outfit, Verstappen Racing, has reportedly agreed a multi-year partnership with Mercedes.<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/si202504110694.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"verstappen-red-bull\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photo: Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n<p>The deal would see Verstappen\u2019s team run Mercedes-AMG GT3 machinery in the GT World Challenge Europe from 2026, marking a switch away from Aston Martin. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/news\/verstappen-makes-the-switch-to-mercedes-and-is-therefore-in-portugal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The move follows Verstappen testing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Estoril<\/a>, a detail that has been cited in connection with the reported agreement.<\/p>\n<p>The partnership would see Verstappen Racing continue competing in the GT World Challenge Europe, where the team expanded its activities ahead of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n<p>That expansion marked Verstappen Racing\u2019s first entry into both the Sprint and Endurance Cups, supporting 2 Seas Motorsport. In the Endurance Cup, Thierry Vermeulen, Chris Lulham and Harry King shared driving duties aboard an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside that programme, Vermeulen and Lulham also contested the Sprint Cup, driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Emil Frey Racing.<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes and Verstappen join forces<\/p>\n<p>According to reports, Verstappen Racing would continue in both Sprint and Endurance categories under the Mercedes partnership, fielding a single Mercedes-AMG GT3.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Lulham is expected to compete in the Sprint Cup alongside Daniel Juncadella, Aston Martin\u2019s Formula 1 simulator driver. For the Endurance Cup, Jules Gounon is reportedly set to join the line-up.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting to the project, Mercedes-AMG customer racing boss Stefan Wendl said: \u201cWe are delighted that Verstappen Racing has chosen to field a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT World Challenge Europe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With 2 Seas Motorsport, the project is supported by a highly experienced team that has already achieved numerous successes and championship titles with our car.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Accordingly, we are very pleased about this extremely ambitious and promising project, as well as about another high-calibre entry in both the Sprint and Endurance programmes of the GT World Challenge Europe,\u201d Wendl concluded.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen passes verdict on Red Bull Ford engine&#8217;s noiseVerstappen discussed Red Bull\u2019s first in-house 2026 power unit on the Talking Bulls podcast, joking that \u201cit makes a noise\u201d before saying it sounded \u201ccrisp\u201d on the dyno. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/news\/verstappen-delivers-hilarious-verdict-on-red-bulls-2026-engine-sound\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read his full comments here.<\/a>Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/f1\" title=\"F1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">F1<\/a> paddock? Then GPblog&#8217;s F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog&#8217;s YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen\u2019s racing outfit, Verstappen Racing, has reportedly agreed a multi-year partnership with Mercedes. Photo: Red Bull Content&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,35119,813,816,825,189983,85],"class_list":["post-369752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-f1-news","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes-amg-f1-team","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}