“Why Toto Wolff Advised Max Verstappen Against Signing with Mercedes”

Formula 1’s drivers market is a notoriously unpredictable environment, but even by its standards the sight of Toto Wolff advising Max Verstappen against joining Mercedes felt curious.
The Dutchman is under contract with Red Bull until 2028, but has been linked with a move away from the team he has won three world championships with.

While Verstappen has insisted he remains committed to Red Bull, Wolff has advised him against joining him at Mercedes should he fancy a change of scenery. At least not yet.

“We need two to crash at the front to win at the moment,” he told the media ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I think we still need to look at ourselves and say: ‘What can we do in order to have a car that is able to race with these two at the front and do it more regularly?’

“And I think this is a moment where we can say that we can be a port or destination for the best drivers, including Max.
“But we’re not there yet, so if I was him I wouldn’t be considering such a move. Yet.”

Wolff’s comment was intriguing for a number of reasons. The most obvious of it is that Mercedes have a vacancy for next season, due to Lewis Hamilton’s impending switch to Ferrari.

And who better than Verstappen, the standout driver of his generation, to replace his main rival?

After all, it was the Dutchman who ended Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ unprecedented era of dominance as he secured his maiden world title in highly controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

Red Bull have since replaced the Silver Arrows as the team to beat, with Verstappen winning 17 out of 22 races in 2022 and a record 19 races last term, as Red Bull took the chequered flag in 21 of the 22 races on the calendar.

The Dutchman won four of the first five races this season, but his supremacy has been challenged over the past three months.

Mercedes have won the last two races, with George Russell triumphing in Austria and Hamilton winning on home soil at Silverstone.
McLaren have also closed the gap, with Lando Norris winning in Miami and coming second behind Verstappen in three of the next four races, before the pair collided at the Austrian Grand Prix following an exhilarating duel.

Wolff would “love” to sign Verstappen

Earlier this season, Wolff had admitted he would “love” to sign up Verstappen as Hamilton’s replacement if the Dutchman were to leave Red Bull.

“I’d love to have him,” he said.

“But first we need to sort out our car. I think we owe it to our drivers, George [Russell] and Lewis [Hamilton], to improve the car and give them equipment that is good before dreaming about the future next year.”

Wolff’s comments this week will come as a relief to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who is desperate to hold onto to his star driver.

“He [Verstappen] is a crucial member of the team, he enjoys being part of the team. He’s got a tremendous group around him. We know what the future looks like,” Horner told reporters at the Austrian Grand Prix last month.

“Obviously a lot of noise been made about him going elsewhere, and sometimes one just thinks that that’s a distraction tactic that’s just thrown in.”

Horner has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle with Verstappen’s father, Jos, since he was involved in a sexting scandal at the start of the season.

Hundreds of texts he s allegedly sent to a female employee were circulated in an email sent to the media, Formula 1 teams and executives.

The relationship between Verstappen Sr. and Horner deteriorated following the incident, with the former calling for the Red Bull boss to step down.

Horner, who has steadfastly denied the accusations, was subsequently cleared of coercive behaviour by an internal investigation but his rapport with Verstappen’s father remains non-existent.

Verstappen is happy at Red Bull

For his part, the Dutchman has repeatedly tried to defuse the tension between the two, recently insisting he was “very happy” at Red Bull and leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit was not on his radar.

“I have a long contract with the team, I’m very happy where I’m at,” he said last month.

“Like I said before, we are focusing already on next year with things that we can implement on the car, so I guess that should say enough for where I’m driving next year.”

While McLaren and Mercedes have closed the gap with Red Bull, Verstappen has managed to extend his advantage his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings and now leads Norris by 84 points and Charles Leclerc by 105 points.

Meanwhile, Red Bull have a 71-point gap over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, with McLaren seven points further adrift.