by VALERIO BARRETTA
Wolff seduces Verstappen and provokes Red Bull
Toto Wolff continues his courtship of Max Verstappen. The Austrian can well imagine that at Red Bull, peace is only a truce in the power struggle, or worse still a cosmetic operation that tries to take the spotlight away from Helmut Marko and Chris Horner, and therefore he wants to take advantage of it to snatch away the rivals his champion.
If something has filtered through the mighty walls of Milton Keynes and if conflicting messages arrive from the Red Bull press office, between admissions and lack of confirmations, the fire is big and won't be put out with a bucket of water. Wolff, as an ultra-experienced manager, knows this better than anyone, and continues to call upon Verstappen, an object of desire that until a few months ago harbored his nightmares, and not his dreams.
Wolff's words
After today's further opening, Wolff tried to convince the Dutchman to move to Mercedes in 2025 with a provocation to Red Bull: “Yes, I'm waiting for it. A few months ago I never expected to be able to say this“, these are his words in an interview with the Dutch de Telegraaf. “I don't want to speculate too much about his thoughts or put pressure on him. Now he's in the best car and has a great relationship with Red Bull, just maybe the whole work environment at the moment is not what it should be. In due course Max, Jos and Raymond (manager Vermeulen, ed.) they will have to decide what their priority is: the car, the results or certain values within the team that can be respected or not and that they consider important? Knowing them quite well, I believe that Max and Jos are very tied to clear values“.
“Jos and I are the same age. I think we have always respected each other and we also have the same kind of humor. I think the most important thing is that we both don't like bullshit. Jos knows more about racing than I do, and even Max. Maybe I know a little more about running an organization“, Wolff explained. “It's a shame that there was some rivalry, but I will always defend my driver, and they probably would have behaved the same way. Looking back on 2021, it's clear he made some mistakes, but I can't go back. Max, Jos and I talked about it and everything was clarified“.
“I believe that in the role of Lewis Hamilton's replacement there is only a small group of interesting drivers for us. Among these there are some drivers who will not make hasty decisions. There are options for short-term riders, but also long-term ones. At Red Bull there is a certain situation. So, presumably, Max will decide his future in the coming weeks depending on how the situation develops. What if it's number one on your wish list? It's a great opportunity. We already knew that Lewis could leave after this year when he signed the contract. But at the same time, this creates opportunities for us, while Ferrari and McLaren have no seats available. I want to let my mind wander, over the next two or three months, and then decide which direction to take. We prefer to walk towards the right decision rather than run towards the wrong one“.
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