Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed Mercedes’ pursuit of four-time world champion Max Verstappen for the 2026 season. His statements confirm George Russell’s revelation about Mercedes’ ongoing talks with Verstappen.Mercedes tried hard last year to sign Verstappen after Lewis Hamilton announced his signing with Ferrari for the 2025 season. But with Verstappen keen on continuing with Red Bull, Wolff signed rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.Now, it appears that Mercedes has once again shown interest in having Verstappen on board for the 2026 season, the year when F1 enters a new era of regulations with new cars that could potentially reset the grid. Having Verstappen in one of its cars would add a layer of confidence to Mercedes’ 2026 prospects, especially as all teams head into a big unknown with cars set to run on 50 percent electric power.Marko revealed why Mercedes wanted to sign Verstappen in an interview with OE24, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. When he was asked about Mercedes’ interest in Verstappen to potentially prevent Aston Martin from signing him in the future, Marko said:”We won’t go into that, because Max will stay at Red Bull next year.”Quizzed as to why the rumor about Wolff’s interest in Verstappen has been so persistent, the 81-year-old Red Bull advisor added:”Toto wants to win. And he knows full well that if he has a Max Verstappen, his chances are better.”Related: Toto Wolff Drops Big Hint on Talks with Max Verstappen for Mercedes SeatRussell, whose Mercedes contract expires at the end of 2025, acknowledged his team’s interest in signing the Red Bull driver. Despite showcasing his racing prowess, Russell’s place in the team hasn’t been confirmed for the next season. The Briton hinted that the delay behind his contract extension was Mercedes’s discussion with Verstappen. Newsweek Sports reported his comments in Austria:”It’s not something that I’m pressing massively because, as I’ve always said, the performance is the priority, and I feel with the performance I’m showing at the moment – still in line with the performance I’ve shown over all these years – I’ve got zero reasons to be worried.”But obviously, it does help if there was pen on paper. But let’s see.”He added:”From my side, I don’t think I have anything really to worry about. I think, as a team, it depends where you put your aspirations.”We’re second best at the moment, maybe third best. We might be overperforming slightly to be second best.”As Mercedes, they want to be back on top, and if you’re going to be back on top you need to make sure you’ve got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that’s what Mercedes are chasing.”So, it’s only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I’m performing as I’m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.”