“Something Brave”
When Toto Wolffnumber one of the Mercedes team, had told journalists that the replacement of Lewis Hamilton for 2025 could have been “an opportunity to do something courageous“, many had thought of the 17-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli, or the sensational return to F1 of the 36-year-old Sebastian Vettel.
Certainly few had even connected Wolff's statement to Max Verstappenthree-time Red Bull world champion and linked to his team until 2028. But word has started to spread in the paddock, so much so that last Thursday – in an undisclosed interview with the Austrians Kronen Zeitung – was asked Helmut Marko if Verstappen was really in Mercedes' sights, getting a surprising response: “I'd be surprised if they hadn't already contacted him. But Max is a very loyal driver.”
The meeting between Wolff and Jos Verstappen
And if two clues prove it, at the end of the Sakhir race, won by Max Verstappen, a meeting in the paddock between Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen was not missedimmortalized by some journalists, including Frederic Ferret de The Team, who immediately spread the photo on social media. A more than surprising reunion, given that There was a frost between the two after the events at Silverstone 2021with the accident involving Hamilton and Max.
Wolff initially remained vague: “I have known Jos for 25 years, through ups and downs, and I simply congratulated him on his son's achievements“. When asked directly about the possibilities of a Max's transfer to Mercedes in 2025, Wolff initially pretended not to understand, save let out a significant smile, accompanied by an equally eloquent: “Everything is possible“.
Why should Verstappen leave Red Bull?
One of the newspapers that first launched the Horner case, F1-Insiderdescribed Max Verstappen's celebrations in Parc Fermé in detail: “First he hugged Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey, who were in the corner. Only afterwards did he go, more timidly, to Chalerm Yoovidhya and Christian Horner“. For the German site this photograph depicts thecurrent rift within the teamdescribed as follows: “On the one hand there are the Austrians with Mark Mateschitz, Oliver Mintzlaff, Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey, who believe action is necessary against Horner's transgressive behavior. On the other hand there are the Thai ownerswho hold 51% of the shares, who support Horner and want to keep him at all costs.”
But always second F1-Insider,”Max Verstappen would be very worried about the current situation,” much more than what is apparent with the cold declarations on the outside, so much so that he became the starter: “Is the trench warfare at Red Bull pushing Verstappen towards Mercedes?“.
However, there could be another key to understanding this market flirtation: that is, the attempt by the 'Austrian side' to play Max's farewell card as a weapon to push Red Bull Christian Horner off the wall.
It's a short step from the fantasy market to fantasy politics.
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