Lewis Hamilton dropped a bombshell on the F1 world with his announcement of joining Ferrari in 2025. The move left Mercedes with a vacant seat for the forthcoming season and invited a variety of speculations. One of the rumors suggested that Toto Wolff might look to replace one champion driver with another and bring Max Verstappen on board. However, per a report from Motorsport Week, Helmut Marko believes it won’t happen.
: Helmut Marko has said that Toto Wolff will try and sign Max Verstappen for 2025. But he will be ‘unsuccessful.’#maxverstappen #F1 pic.twitter.com/Pxgu0ShyV2
— Formula Feature. (@FormulaFeature) February 5, 2024
According to Marko, Verstappen remembers the past accusations by Mercedes, and Wolff’s efforts to sign him will be in vain. The 80-year-old referred to various incidents from 2021 behind his explanation. When Red Bull and Mercedes engaged in an intense title fight, Wolff often targeted Verstappen with some harsh comments. Furthermore, the crash at the 2021 British GP and the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP incident also stand as viable examples.
“Toto [Wolff] will try, but he will not be successful.”
Despite strong commitments between drivers and teams, Wolff believes breaking a contract is always possible. His statements come 6 months after Verstappen revealed that he won’t rule out a future move to Mercedes. But, a lot of adjustments would have to be made to facilitate the move.
Toto Wolff elaborates on Max Verstappen joining Mercedes
With Hamilton leaving a vacant seat at Mercedes, the hunt is on to find a replacement. The new driver should not only fill Hamilton’s shoes but also prove to be a good partner to George Russell. As such, Wolff believes the ball is in his court with regards to bringing Verstappen on board. However, to attract a top driver, the Austrian knows his team needs to demonstrate their ability to come up with a fast car.
“he is a key man like max verstappen is in red bull and like lewis hamilton was for mercedes.” pic.twitter.com/RZ09tAGv0H
— rem (@leclerqz) January 5, 2024
Meanwhile, Wolff also emphasized respecting driver contracts with their current teams. While having discussions with potential teams, he needs to ensure they don’t breach any preexisting commitments. Verstappen falls under the same umbrella, with his contract running until 2028. However, there are chances of an early release owing to a sudden fall in Red Bull‘s performances.
