When it was announced that Hamilton would leave Mercedes and join Ferrari in 2025, Verstappen seemed like he would stay with Red Bull until the end of his contract in 2028.
However, because of the ongoing problems with Christian Horner, Verstappen’s father, Jos, said Red Bull would have serious issues if Horner remained in charge.
There were rumors that Helmut Marko, a Red Bull advisor, leaked information to the press. Verstappen made it clear that his future was tied to Marko. It was revealed later that Verstappen had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave early if Marko left the team.
This led to speculation that Verstappen might join Mercedes in 2025 and replace Hamilton, especially with the big changes in the rules for the engines coming up.
The boss of Mercedes’ motorsport division, Wolff, talked about the possibility of having Verstappen on their team. He said that having a relationship with Verstappen, who is an exceptional driver, would be important at some point.
Wolff mentioned that Mercedes would make a decision in the summer but it would depend on what Verstappen chooses to do.
Mercedes had the chance to sign Verstappen back in 2014 when he was in European Formula 3. However, they couldn’t offer him a Formula 1 seat at the time, so he joined Red Bull instead.
Wolff said they couldn’t compete with Red Bull’s offer. Verstappen eventually got a seat at Red Bull halfway through the next season.
Wolff thinks that having a relationship with Verstappen could come full circle eventually, but they’re not sure when.
He also mentioned that Verstappen is their top choice to replace Hamilton, but they’re also considering other options like Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who races in FIA Formula 2.
Also read: Wolff Attributes Merc F1 Struggles to Correlation Challenges, Denies Dogmatic Influence
