Mercedes boss admitted to having the three-time world champion as a priority for 2025:
– It’s a type of relationship that needs to happen. Unless Max decides to go and then the spot will no longer be free with us. It’s a type of relationship that needs to happen at a certain time, but we don’t know when. Look at his performance levels… but I wouldn’t want to disregard the others either – said Wolff.
Still, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen are not the only ones on Toto Wolff’s list. In an interview with Fox Sports Australia, he stated that the search to replace Hamilton is great, but the team’s current focus needs to be on the current season and setting up the car. At the Australian GP, both Mercedes abandoned the race.
– Obviously there is Fernando, who is very exciting, and Carlos, very good. So there are some (possibilities). I think we have to look at ourselves and question what we can do with this car. Then everything becomes much easier, whoever drives the second car and for George (Russell) because he has the potential to be world champion and much more.
The relationship between Verstappen and Mercedes is not new. Toto Wolff revealed that he tried to take the Dutchman into the German team’s driver program back when he was competing in Formula 3, but was overtaken by a better proposal from RBR, which gave Max a place in F1.
– I had seen him in Formula 3. He was very good. I have a good relationship with his father, so we sat down at my house in Vienna and said: ‘What can we do?’. I couldn’t give him a place in Formula 1. I said: ‘Let’s do F2 together, with full financing and I guarantee a place in the car the following year’. ‘They said, ‘We have an offer from Red Bull for (Toro Rosso) basically from now on.’ That was it. I knew we couldn’t compete with that. In the middle of the season, he replaced (Daniil Kvyat) at Red Bull and took the place.
Max Verstappen impresses with dominant performance in F1
