Over the past few weeks, reports have emerged that claimed that Max Verstappen may leave Red Bull because of the ongoing controversy surrounding team principal Christian Horner. Amid such speculations, former F1 driver Sebastian Vettel has provided everyone with a reality check. The former Red Bull star understands that things at Milton Keynes may be unstable at the moment. However, Vettel still does not believe that the concerns should push Verstappen to exit the team.
Speaking about the same, Vettel told Sport.de as per Formule1, “Of course, things are turbulent at the moment. But if you look at it from the sports side, there is no reason to think about anything else.” Unlike Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, who have often shown interest in things away from racing, Verstappen is different.
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) December 9, 2023
The Dutch driver is only concerned about competing at the highest level and that’s all that matters to him. Therefore, Verstappen perhaps doesn’t need to think about anything else when he is arguably driving for the best car on the grid at the moment.
Following the introduction of the regulations in 2022, Red Bull has been unstoppable. Adrian Newey and his team of engineers have provided Verstappen with machines that are still the ones to beat. From RB18 to RB19 and currently the RB20, the Austrian team has been at the top of their game for three years in a row now.
Thanks to the mighty Red Bull challengers, the 26-year-old was able to register 36 wins in the last 47 races since 2022. With this kind of dominance, Red Bull and Verstappen are firm favorites to take home the 2024 and 2025 world titles as well. Considering Verstappen’s recent domination, it seems unlikely that he will want to move to any other team.
Can Max Verstappen move to Mercedes in the future?
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari at the end of this year vacates a seat at Mercedes. Toto Wolff, the Silver Arrows team principal, has made it clear that he wouldn’t think twice to have Max Verstappen replace the Briton at Brackley.
Wolff has confirmed that the brilliant Dutchman is at the top of his wishlist. Hence, if Verstappen does decide to leave Red Bull and show an interest in joining Mercedes, Wolff may have one of the simplest decisions to make to replace Hamilton.
#F1 | Toto Wolff is still not sure whether the second seat at Mercedes will be filled with a second to George Russell or someone that will lead the team:
“I don’t really know yet. I think it depends also on what Max [Verstappen] does.”
“And then we have a young kid [Antonelli]… pic.twitter.com/OiNUTI3iaU
— deni (@fiagirly) March 27, 2024
However, the Austrian boss also admitted that his team needs to do a better job if they want to convince the defending champion to join them in the future. At the same time, it is pertinent to note that Verstappen has made it clear that he is unwilling to leave Red Bull anytime soon.
The Dutchman put an end to every interest from rivals when he confirmed that he would leave the Milton-Keynes-based team only when he retires from the sport!
