Despite winning four out of the first six Grand Prix races, Red Bull has had a disturbing start to the 2024 season. The team’s internal rifts have come before the public eyes, starting with the allegations of inappropriate behavior by team principal Christian Horner towards a female employee.
🚨 | Red Bull’s full statement on the allegations towards team principal Christian Horner:
“After the company was informed of certain recent allegations, an independent investigation has been launched. This process, which is already underway, is carried out by an external,… pic.twitter.com/HeCTVMgOQx
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 5, 2024
Adviser Dr. Helmut Marko’s alleged exit rumors from the team, amidst the power race and dispute between Dr. Marko and Horner, Adrian Newey announcing his departure from the team in 2025, and Max Verstappen’s threatening to leave the team if Helmut leaves. Overall, a not-so-joyous internal situation at Red Bull, despite being dominant in the competition and leading the point table.
Everyone has their eyes fixed on Max Verstappen; in the recent days he made it to the headlines by stating he might leave Red Bull before his contract ends. Speculations of him being in conversation with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and secretly agreeing to a pact also surfaced in the world of motorsports.
Now shutting out all the rumors, Max Verstappen who is signed with Red Bull until 2028, in an interview with Sky F1 has said: “Why would you want to leave when you are already in the best position?”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has stated unequivocally that the reigning World Champion is currently at the top of his list of candidates to succeed the retiring Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season, but with Verstappen, the reigning champion having the fastest car on the grid, it appears unlikely.
Max Verstappen is not interested in switching teams on purely financial grounds
The reigning world champion has made it plain that he wants to continue driving the fastest car going forward. Verstappen has previously voiced concerns about his future after the fallout from Red Bull’s internal investigation into team principal Christian Horner, in which accusations against him were dropped.
Being a Red Bull driver since his junior years, he continued, saying that there isn’t now a “desire” to create a project centered around him.
Verstappen made it very clear in Miami that he would not be interested in transferring teams for financial reasons alone, even if Mercedes were to offer him an estimated €150 million a season to race for them. “Well, at the end of the day, these kinds of decisions are not made very easily and I’m very happy with where I am,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1, “I want to be in the fastest car, that’s what I always said with the team. That’s what we have at the moment, and that’s what we try and have also next year,”
Max is focusing on winning his fourth consecutive title this year with Red Bull, dimming the lights on his rumored exit from the team. If Max succeeds in winning the title this year, he would become the fifth driver in F1’s history to win four consecutive titles, right after Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Juan Manuel Fangio.
Toto Wolff should stop pursuing Max Verstappen as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton
Verstappen has been strongly linked to leaving Red Bull for the upcoming season despite having a contract that runs until the end of the Formula 1 2028 season and won four of the first six races in the ongoing competition. This is due to the off-track scandal that is presently enveloping the company. There have been rumors that Verstappen’s future may not be known until the final weeks of the current campaign.
The only practical substitute for Verstappen is Mercedes. Wolff is apparently willing to “take the risk” of starting 17-year-old Italian sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli with George Russell for the F1 2025 season in the hopes of trying again for Verstappen for F1 2026 if he is unable to sign Verstappen right away.
Toto Wolff has not ruled out meeting with Max Verstappen to discuss the possibility of replacing Lewis Hamilton 🤝
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 7, 2024
Verstappen reiterated that he was “very happy” with Red Bull and that he wasn’t considering his next move. F1 legend, Juan Pablo Montoya has also adviced Verstappen to not leave Red Bull as it would be a “stupid” decision.
But as it seems, Toto Wolff should forget about Max being in Mercedes as a replacement for Hamilton until at least 2028 (that is when Verstappen’s contract with Red Bull ends). The only reason that can lure Verstappen to Mercedes is the new regulations set to come in action from 2026 onwards. As Mercedes is said to bring engines equivalent to what they had in 2014, meaning their cars would once again come into the radar of World Champion contenders.
Signing Max Verstappen could potentially disrupt the team dynamics at Mercedes. While Max Verstappen is undoubtedly a talented driver, there might be concerns about how well he would fit into the Mercedes team or whether his driving style would suit the team’s car.