Max Verstappen's mother Sophie Kumpen likes post featuring him in Mercedes overalls

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's mother Sophie Kumpen has liked a post showcasing the driver in Mercedes overalls on social media. There has been a lot of speculation regarding Verstappen's contract with Red Bull Racing, amid the exit of Christian Horners' exit as team principal and CEO.

Verstappen's contract will expire in the year of 2028, but release clauses might allow him to quit the team earlier, The four-time World champion was strongly linked with Mercedes, also Toto Wolff has tried to acquire the former.

Amid all the speculation, Autosport shared a post on Instagram showcasing Verstappen's fan flaunting a banner of the driver in Mercedes overalls.

Sophie Kumpen, Verstappen's mother, was one of the many to like the post.

Reacting on Max Verstappen rumors on F1, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said:

"This [Russell and Verstappen] is all more in the let's say long-shot, far-fetched [ideas] because I want to stay with Kimi and George as it stands. Everything else is not realistic but obviously [if] you have a Russell/Verstappen line-up that's Prost/Senna I guess, no?"

The uncertainty around his future did not impact Verstappen's performance on trac, as he managed to finish P2 in the sprint Shootout and split the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said that splitting the McLaren duo was a great outcome for him. as he starts the race from P2 behind Championship leader Oscar Piastri.

"Being P2 between the two McLarens in the Sprint Quali today was a really good result for us. I think we maximised the performance of the car and I enjoyed it out there. The lap itself was good and the gap was big but it has been big since FP1 so that is not a surprise.

"We just have to focus on ourselves and work on the balance of the car and try to go faster, we need to do our own race. With the upgrades, it is always difficult on a Sprint weekend to say exactly how they have impacted the car, but we keep improving and keep trying to find more performance. Other teams will be doing the same thing and that’s just how it goes."

Previously, Max Verstappen had won the only other sprint race around the Spa-Francorchamps track in the 2023 season ahead of Oscar Piastri, who was leading the race at the front for a while.