‘No coincidence’: F1 erupts as map detail hints at secret Verstappen meeting

F1 fans have gone full sleuth mode as a map appeared to confirm a theory about a secret meeting between Max Verstappen and a rival team.

Formula One fans are inspecting yacht tracking maps like never before amid wild rumours of a secret meeting between Max Verstappen and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in Italy.

All eyes are on Verstappen’s next move after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was sacked earlier this week in a bombshell mid-season move.

The shock announcement sparked speculation over whether Horner’s sacking was prompted by an ultimatum from Verstappen’s camp, or because the team knew the four-time world champion had decided to switch teams to Mercedes.

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Such a defection would up-end F1 as we know it, given Verstappen’s association with Red Bull ever since he was scouted as a junior talent.

It could very well be on the cards based on some sleuthing from fans desperate to know what is going on in the week without racing before next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Publicly available data from flight trackers shows Verstappen’s private jet had taken off from Nice and landed in Sardinia soon after.

On top of that, tracking information from the yachts belonging to Verstappen and Wolff both located their luxury boats off the coast of Sardinia, fuelling rumours of a secret meeting.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is cooking something up. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Could Max Verstappen really leave Red Bull? (Photo by MAX SLOVENCIK / APA / AFP) / Austria OUT

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher floated the theory that Verstappen and Wolff were set to have a secret meeting in Sardinia while on holiday.

“It’s no coincidence either that this week, two yachts are cruising off Sardinia – one belongs to Toto Wolff, the other to Max Verstappen. And from what I hear, there’s a good chance they might have had a coffee together,” Schumacher told Formel1.de.

“But what defines Max is that he won’t take this decision lightly. He knows exactly who he owes his career to – besides himself and his father, of course – and that’s ultimately Red Bull, the team that brought him to where he is today.”

🚨RUMOUR: Earlier this week, Ralph Schumacher had predicted that Toto Wolff and Max Verstappen were set to meet in Sardinia.

[Speaking about their boats] “One belongs to Toto Wolff and the other to Max Verstappen.

Max just landed in Sardinia..#F1#Verstappen#Mercedespic.twitter.com/U4NqObIdJF

— North Pole F1 🇨🇦 (@NorthPoleF1) July 11, 2025

Verstappen's 8X jet just took off!

🛫Sardinia, Italy 🇮🇹

🦁 #UnleashTheLionpic.twitter.com/ByaRgrTkwS

— Max Verstappen’s Jet 🛩 (@VerstappenJet) July 11, 2025

“I think it’s pretty clear what Max wants,” Schumacher said.

“GT3 is something he’s passionate about. Mercedes is also launching a new car in that category soon, so … Right now, it doesn’t feel like the odds are great for him staying.

“I think on Sunday, it hit him that even he can’t save this anymore – and that really affected him. After the race, it was obvious to me. And once you feel like something is beyond saving, it’s hard to come back from that.”

Toto Wolff and Christian Horner in happier times. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen is contracted with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, but Wolff has made no secret of his interest in luring the world champion to Mercedes.

George Russell, Mercedes’ more established driver, is out of contract at the end of this season and is yet to be offered a new deal, which commentator Martin Brundle has described as “highlight unusual”.

Russell appears most vulnerable to Verstappen joining Red Bull given the investment Mercedes have put into getting academy product Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a teenage rookie, onto the F1 grid.

The situation is delicately poised at the halfway point of this season and more negotiations with Mercedes could take place over the summer break in August following races in Belgium and Hungary.

Earlier this week it was reported that Verstappen’s private jet had flown to Red Bull’s headquarters at Milton Keynes in the UK and he made an appearance with the team following Horner’s axing.

Horner has been officially relieved of his duties, but he is technically on gardening leave until Red Bull decides how to pay out the remaining five years of his contract.

Horner could be in line for an eye-watering payout worth up to £60 million (A$125m), accounting for his salary and his role in attracting major sponsors to the team.

Originally published as ‘No coincidence’: F1 erupts as map detail hints at secret Verstappen meeting