Should Mercedes sign Max Verstappen? F1 team boss responds
Red Bull's disappointing performance in the 2025 season might cause Max Verstappen to jump ship to Mercedes as early as next year.
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George Russell and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen‘s future at Red Bull has remained questionable amidst the team’s struggling pace on the grid. The Dutchman has gained interest from multiple coveted teams and has no shortage of offers for the coming season. Milton Keynes’ form doesn’t seem to improve significantly as Verstappen fails to remain at the top of the drivers’ title contention. Amidst the 27-year-old’s doubtful future with the Austrian constructor, Williams’ Team Principal James Vowles has provided his opinion.
Mercedes continued to be interested in signing Max Verstappen, potentially even at the cost of their lead driver, George Russell. Toto Wolff had iterated that Verstappen’s move to Brackley needs to happen at any cost. The Dutchman continued to showcase loyalty to his current outfit and refused any offers. Moreover, Aston Martin also offered an alleged $1 billion deal to the reigning world champion to join from the coming season.
Verstappen has remained clear about his future ambitions with Red Bull and has not talked about leaving the team. Still, the team’s dying pace might make the 27-year-old rethink his decisions and start weighing his options with the rival teams. Mercedes has remained the prime candidate for the Dutchman if he were to jump ship to any other constructor on the grid.
James Vowles highlighted that Mercedes had great stability with their current driver lineup of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Vowles reckoned that Brackley had great stability in their team, and both drivers worked together. As such, releasing either of the two drivers to make way for Verstappen wouldn’t be the right decision. Still, the Englishman pointed out that the final decision lay with the German constructor and the reigning world champion.
The bit that they’ve got at the moment is a stable environment, a culture that works, two drivers that are working together, and one that’s on the way up. And I think for them, to chop and change that out for a driver as quick as Max, still may not be the right decision. It’s theirs to make, but that was more my commentary.
James Vowles said, as reported by Planetf1
George Russell labels Max Verstappen the ‘best at the moment’
Max Verstappen has kept up with impressive performances despite racing in a considerably inferior chassis compared to his rivals. After the first five races, the Dutchman has remained in the Top 3 of the drivers’ table. As such, Mercedes’ George Russell did not hesitate to commend the reigning world champion for his performances in the recent races.
Russell reckoned that any team wanting to sign Verstappen in their drivers’ lineup was understandable. The reason for this was that the Briton believed the 27-year-old to be the best at the moment. The Briton further highlighted that the latter was a four-time world champion, and signing him to Mercedes would not be anything against either of the current drivers.
Why wouldn’t they want to sign Max? It’s totally understandable. He’s the best at the moment. He’s a four-time World Champion. That’s not anything against me or Kimi. There’s two drivers for every team and he is one person.
George Russell told the Press Association
The grid is currently extremely leveled at the forefront amongst multiple teams and drivers. Red Bull must find immediate improvements in performance in order to ensure Verstappen’s retention in the team. As things currently are, the Dutchman is highly likely to look at his options and potentially even act on it before the end of the season. Rumors have already come up that the 27-year-old would leave the team if he falls below the third position in the drivers’ standings.
Also Read: F1 Pundit urges Lewis Hamilton to change ‘lifetime’ trait for Ferrari
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