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Toto Wolff has admitted Max Verstappen is the number 1 pick to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. The Mercedes boss details missing out on the triple F1 world champion when he was 17 and has emphasized that the Verstappen and Mercedes tie-up needs to happen "at a certain stage" in the future.
Max Verstappen is reportedly assessing his options amidst the ongoing civil war at Red Bull. The Christian Horner investigation has been under the spotlight for much of the season.
Toto Wolff is looking to seize this opportunity and snap up Verstappen to replace outgoing 7x F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton. In a recent interview with Fox Sports, the Mercedes head said:
“We have a slot free, the only one in the top teams – unless Max decides he goes. Then the slot is not going to be free with us anymore."
Wolff admitted to having "a good relationship" with Max's father Jos Verstappen. When asked if the relationship could come a full circle, the Austrian added:
"Exactly. So, it’s a kind of a relationship that needs to happen at a certain stage, but we don’t know when.”
The Austrian said Mercedes is also monitoring Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and their academy junior Kimi Antonelli for the position.
Max Verstappen suffered his first DNF in 2 years at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix
After Max Verstappen won the opening two races of the year, he looked set to complete a hat-trick of wins in Melbourne. The Red Bull driver clinched the pole position and started ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.
However, his joy only lasted 3 laps as he was forced to retire from the race. Verstappen suffered a brake issue on his right rear wheel. This was the 3x F1 champion's first mechanical retirement in two years, with his last one also coming at the same venue.
Verstappen explained in an interview with Sky Sports about what went wrong:
"It is unfortunate about what happened today, but we can see so far in the data that as soon as the lights went off, the right rear brake just stuck on and locked. It was basically like driving with the hand brake on, so, of course, the temperature just kept on increasing, and then I could see smoke appear as it had caught fire."
Despite his DNF, Verstappen still leads the championship from Charles Leclerc by 4 points. He and Red Bull will look to bounce back in the upcoming race at Suzuka.
Do you think Max Verstappen will go on a dominant run again, or is Red Bull's dominance finally coming to an end?
