Rumors from the Netherlands
The Formula 1 driver market heats up during the Monte Carlo weekend. No official announcements – the only one remains Charles Leclerc’s contract renewal with Ferrari – but interesting rumors stemming from a possible ‘flirt’ between the usual suspects of recent years regarding the Circus market: Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff. The source of the rumor is ‘heavy’, because it is Erik Van Haren, the Dutch journalist from De Telegraaf who is always very well informed about everything concerning the environment surrounding the four-time Dutch world champion from Red Bull.
In an article published today on the Dutch website Van Haren has once again linked Mercedes to the #3 orange. According to reports, in fact, Mercedes could terminate George Russell’s contract if, by the summer break, the Brit were to find himself behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the standings. It wouldn’t be such an absurd hypothesis – such clauses are quite common between drivers and teams – and the fact that Russell currently has to recover 43 points from the Bolognese driver certainly doesn’t suggest a quick catch-up in the standings.
The triangle perhaps
Russell would therefore risk this year losing the world title in one fell swoop – which already seemed his in Australia – and also the Mercedes seat that he had so longed for during his three-year stint at Williams from 2019 to 2021. Toto Wolff could indeed take advantage of Russell’s release and Max Verstappen’s simultaneous possibility of leaving Red Bull to attempt another all-in on the Dutchman. And this time, given the competitiveness shown by Mercedes at the start of this season, it would be difficult for Verstappen to reject the advances of the Silver Arrows.
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But the domino effect wouldn’t end there. Van Haren also confirms that, in case of Verstappen’s departure, Red Bull would have already identified the replacement: it would be Oscar Piastri. The Australian from McLaren would be at the top of Laurent Mekies’ list, despite the ‘internal’ promotion projects for Lindblad, Lawson, or Tsunoda. This, paradoxically, could be the most complicated negotiation to bring to fruition, considering that McLaren has always reiterated its desire to retain its pair of drivers and that Piastri has a valid agreement with Woking until at least the end of 2027. But even in this case, there could be clauses to appeal to. What seems certain is that a potential championship-winning season for Andrea Kimi Antonelli could bring impressive upheavals to the grid.
