Did Max Verstappen almost join Mercedes?

Max Verstappen could have raced alongside Lewis Hamilton in the dominant Mercedes car.

Did Max Verstappen almost join Mercedes?

Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen is presently the driver to beat in Formula 1. The Dutchman has achieved immense success with Red Bull since his debut. The Verstappen-Red Bull pairing brought an end to Mercedes’s domination in the sport. However, there was a time when the 25-year-old considered joining the Silver Arrows instead of the Austrian giants.

During the 2014 German GP weekend, Max Verstappen’s management was in talks with both Red Bull and Mercedes over a race seat for the following season. Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda approached the Dutchman right after his talks with Dr. Helmut Marko from Red Bull camp. However, as fans know, the 25-year-old opted to join the Red Bull driver academy.

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The Austrian team offered Max Verstappen a seat on its junior team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, for 2015. In comparison, Mercedes could only provide the Dutchman with a reserve driver role or a paid campaign in the F1 feeder series, GP2. It is thus no wonder that Max and his management, including his father, Jos Verstappen, preferred the former option as it provided a concrete path to F1 for the Dutchman.

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Rosberg’s retirement left a vacant seat at the Silver Arrows for 2016

Max Verstappen couldn’t get a race seat at Mercedes as the Silver Arrows lacked a vacant seat. However, things changed after Nico Rosberg declared his shock retirement days after the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP. If Verstappen had agreed to join the Mercedes program two years ago, he could have been a prime option to replace the 2016 world champion as the German team struggled to find a driver at the last minute before signing Valtteri Bottas.

Although, the 25-year-old might not have been bumped up to the top race seat due to his lack of experience. Nonetheless, Max Verstappen certainly has no regrets for opting for Red Bull. The Dutchman won two back-to-back titles and ended the reign of the Silver Arrows. Max Verstappen is the front-runner for the 2023 world title. He has tied in with Red Bull till at least 2028.

Max Verstappen decided to make the bold move of joining Red Bull at a time when Mercedes utterly dominated the grid. The Verstappen management thought of the long term and had the race seat as their priority. Subsequently, the Dutchman got promoted to the senior Red Bull team five rounds into 2016, and since then, Max has made himself the focal point at Milton Keynes.

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