Director of Mercedes Toto Wolff and its counterpart in Red Bull, Christian Horner, They revived their exchange of statements about the future of Max Verstappen after the former once again slipped the possibility of signing the Dutch driver on Sunday.
The future of Verstappen at Red BulHe seemed to be left in the air a month ago, when his father Jos said that the Austrian team was going to “explode” if Horner remained in office.
These statements came after accusations against Horner of “inappropriate behavior” towards an employee, of which the Briton was acquitted after an internal investigation.
Max Verstappen publicly expressed his future commitment to Red Bull, but after the Dutchman’s victory in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, the Mercedes boss once again stirred up the hornet’s nest.
“Everyone is waiting to see what Verstappen does,” Wolff said in Shanghai.
“There are so many factors that play a role in bringing in a driver. Clearly, when you look at it from the most rational point of view, you can say that’s the fastest car in the hands of the fastest driver. But I don’t think this is the The only reason you stay where you are. Let’s say that for simple minds, that could be the only reason you stay in a car and that’s it. But maybe there is more depth for some people who also take other factors into account. “I think Max has that,” he said. Wolff.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of convincing. I think Max knows motorsports better than anyone, he will make the decisions that he thinks are good for him. I think several factors influence, but he is the one who is going to trigger more chips to fall later. of dominoes. Everyone is waiting for what he is going to do. If I were Max I would stay at Red Bull in 2025, but I am not Max. It is the fastest car, but there are still other factors,” he warned.
The Austrian, for the moment, did not want to reveal whether or not he has any possibility of receiving the driver’s arrival as Hamilton’s immediate replacement. “If I say that, it could ruin my strategy,” he said. However, it seems that Horner is no longer liking his insistence, and he decided to come out and respond harshly.
The Red Bull team leader He considers that the problems of the Brackley team are not in the market and even dared to advise the Austrian: “I don’t think Toto’s problem is its drivers. I think it probably has other elements that it needs to focus on instead of focusing on drivers who are not available.”
“We have surpassed the number of races that Mercedes has won in the modern era, so the Red Bull team is in form, why on earth would you want to leave this team?” he asked.
“Mercedes is the third team at the moment, so I would think his (Wolff’s) time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market,” he sentenced. “Has anyone heard that George Russell ends his contract at the end of 2025? Maybe he is not so interested in staying in 2026, you know, the market moves,” he concluded.
Source: Ambito
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