Though Max Verstappen and Red Bull have left it too late to be in the Formula One championship hunt this year, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff expects them to be part of a "full-on fight" in 2027.

Verstappen endured a difficult start to 2026, failing to win any of the first 15 races and only managing one podium finish in his first seven outings. 

But the four-time drivers' champion has turned things around in recent weeks, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix back-to-back, following a pair of runner-up finishes in Spain and Azerbaijan.

Verstappen's 73 race wins, all of which have come with Red Bull, are the second-most victories by any driver for a single team in F1 history, after Lewis Hamilton's 84 with Mercedes. 

Verstappen is still fourth in the drivers' championship standings, though, with Kimi Antonelli boasting a commanding 102-point advantage over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, and Hamilton sitting in third for Ferrari.

Red Bull are also fourth in the constructors' table, a whopping 246 points behind Mercedes at the top, but the Silver Arrows' team principal Wolff expects them to be in contention next year.

"I really think that you need to take your hat off to what Red Bull has done this season," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"With how they have developed the car, how it's all come together as a package and then you put Max Verstappen in the car and he wants to drive it... then these are the results.

"He was by far the quickest guy [in Singapore], the quickest guy in Kuala Lumpur... We'll see, when our upgrade hopefully starts to work and lands in a place where it should be, whether we can be competitive against him. 

Turning up the heat in Austin, Texas  #F1 || #USGP 🇺🇸 https://t.co/aDmUlvwqgr

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 19, 2026

"But one thing is for sure, next year, there's a full-on fight between the teams and Red Bull will be part of that."

The F1 season continues with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas this weekend, with Verstappen hoping to win that race for a fifth time (after 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025).

Hamilton holds the race record with six victories, while Michael Schumacher won the event five times during his career.