Toto Wolff comments on the possibility of Max Verstappen coming to Mercedes

Team manager Toto Wolff does not try to hide that he would like Max Verstappen (26) – the Red Bull team’s big star – to replace Lewis Hamilton (39) in Mercedes.

Thursday 28 March at 11:11 p.m

With Hamilton disappearing to Ferrari after the season, Mercedes has a vacant wheel.

At the same time, there have been rumors in recent weeks about the possibility that world champion Verstappen may leave the Red Bull team, among other things as a result of The Horner caseChristian Horner was accused by a female employee of the Red Bull Formula 1 team of “controlling behaviour”. An independent lawyer conducted an internal investigation and concluded that Horner should be acquitted. But the woman has since appealed Red Bull’s decision, also to the international motorsport federation FIA..

His father Jos Verstappen has stated that the entire Red Bull team could disintegrate if boss Christian Horner stays put. He also accused Horner of being the trouble maker.

Now Toto Wolff has spoken to Fox Sports Australia. There he explains how he saw the Dutchman’s potential in Formula 3 in 2014 and was in negotiations with his father Jos Verstappen – but that they had already received an offer from the Red Bull system – which he could not compete with.

Wolff also makes no secret of the fact that Verstappen is his first choice – should Verstappen choose to leave Red Bull.

When asked if the circle can be closed between Verstappen and Mercedes ten years on, Wolff replies:

– Absolutely. So I think it’s something that has to happen at some point, but we don’t know when.

The Mercedes boss cannot rule out other candidates such as Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and the Formula 2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, writes motorsport.com.

Toto Wolff believes that the relationship between him and the Verstappen family is the best. In the chaos surrounding Red Bull and Christian Horner, speculation has arisen that Max Verstappen may leave the team.

– I think we have always had respect for each other, and Jos and I also have the same kind of humour. I think the most important thing is that we both don’t like nonsense, says Wolff about dad Verstappen.

– Jos knows more about racing than I do, and what about Max! Maybe I know a little more about running an organization. It is unfortunate that there were those moments of rivalry, but maybe they would also have acted like that if they were in my position, and I will always defend my own driver, he says the deep rivalry between Mercedes driver Hamilton and Red Bull driver Verstappen in 2021.

– If you look at Max in the last two years, nobody is even close to him. As a driver, you also cannot manage without a good car, engine and team around you. Max is in that position now, admits Toto Wolff, who has had a difficult start to the 2024 season as Mercedes boss. Last weekend none of the cars made it to the finish line in Australia.

Verstappen, on the other hand, started the season with two victories – before the brakes failed early in the race in Australia.

In a week and a half there is a Formula 1 race in Japan.