Toto Wolff made his desire to sign Max Verstappen public ever since rumors of the latter wanting to leave Red Bull first emerged at the start of 2024. For Verstappen, however, having a fast car was all that mattered, something Mercedes lacked. Now that the Silver Arrows are heading towards the front of the pack again, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has his say on Wolff potentially luring Verstappen.
According to Marko, Mercedes still doesn’t have the right mechanical package to poach the three-time World Champion. “They have taken a step forward,” Marko said to OE24. “But they don’t have the fastest car yet. Silverstone with the cool temperatures has done Mercedes good.”
Furthermore, the Austrian is unbothered by Wolff’s attempts to snatch Verstappen. “We are focused on winning the World Championship,” Marko added.
Tricky weekend all round, so happy to be on the podium Big thank you to the team @redbullracing for the great calls, and amazing work all weekend #BritishGP #KeepPushing pic.twitter.com/IRaoa3IxQn
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 7, 2024
For Wolff, finding a driver to replace the outgoing Lewis Hamilton is of paramount importance. And Verstappen is his biggest dream, which is why the Mercedes Team Principal refuses to rule his signing out.
For the rest of the season, Mercedes’ focus will be to improve on its development, so that they can become the undisputed fastest on the track. In that case, Wolff’s chances of signing the Dutchman would increase tenfold.
Regardless, he feels that Mercedes’ strong showing in Silverstone last weekend has gotten Verstappen closer to the Brackley-based outfit.
Lewis Hamilton’s win catches Verstappen’s eye
Mercedes won its first race of the campaign in Austria, thanks to George Russell being in the right place at the right time. But in Britain, Lewis Hamilton won on pure pace. Mercedes had a 1-2 front-row lockout in Qualifying, and Hamilton (from P2) won, fending off Verstappen’s Red Bull challenge.
As quoted by Planet F1, Wolff said, “I’ve always said we need a car that goes quick. And when we have a car that goes quick, we get interesting for many drivers.”
So much happened last weekend, we almost forgot we had these on our phone pic.twitter.com/JtHzZ04drF
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 11, 2024
When asked for names of drivers who would be interested, the 52-year-old replied, “I don’t know. He [Max] had lots of opportunities to look at the car in the race.”
Verstappen’s future now heavily depends on how both Red Bull and Mercedes develop their cars for the remainder of the 2024 season.
