Toto Wolff explains how close Mercedes came to subscribing Max Verstappen to race alongside Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff has revealed how close he was to subscribing Max Verstappen to star alongside Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen might be top of the tribune at the moment with Red Bull but it wasn’t long ago when Mercedes swept up prizes for fun.
It was Hamilton who broke Red Bull’s stranglehold over Formula 1 in 2014, along with Nico Rosberg. But the coming time, Verstappen joined the grid when he decided to subscribe for Red Bull – starting out at Toro Rosso as the sport’s youthful ever motorist.
still, in another macrocosm, the Dutch racer would be presently teamed up with Hamilton – not battling him as a rival.
Speaking to F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, per Earth F1, Mercedes platoon top Wolff revealed how Verstappen impressed but there was no seat for him at the time. “ Max was veritably good in karting, was good in F3, and it was clear that there’s a big bone that’s growing, ” Wolff said. “ And we talked to them in the original phases, and it was a nice discussion with Jos( Verstappen) and with Max involved as well.
“ But it was clear that we could n’t give him a seat because we had Nico and we had Lewis and we offered the support in F2.
But since Red Bull was suitable to offer them the AlphaTauri seat, or Toro Rosso back in the day, it got Max into the seat. ” Verstappen only spent one season auto racing before making it onto the grid, skipping the GP3 and GP2 path which numerous had to go through.
Now known as FIA, F3 and F2 for youthful motorists currently, Verstappen’s gift was there for all to see. Rosberg left the tableware Arrows startled with his abrupt withdrawal after winning the World Championship in 2016.
It saw Mercedes comb snappily for a new motorist, ultimately settling on Valtteri Bottas from Williams, who would mate Hamilton for five times. But asked if Verstappen was ever an option, Wolff said “ Well, perhaps. But you know, if and when.
still, I would decide to invest in it or not, If I would know where the stock request is coming time. “ We’d be veritably happy and rich people if we’d know what happens 12 months on. ”
