A mid-pack Verstappen
Twelve points in the first three race weekends: to find such a meager points haul in Max Verstappen‘s career, we have to go back to 2015, when the Dutchman was taking his first steps in F1 and driving for Toro Rosso. This return to the dust, with a Red Bull struggling to even be the fourth force in the championship, has not pleased the superstar. Verstappen is now even contemplating leaving a sport he no longer recognizes, but according to Juan Pablo Montoya, his frustrations are mainly linked to the lack of competitiveness of the RB22.
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Montoya’s words
For the Colombian, Verstappen must accept Mercedes’ courtship, which in 2024 had persistently tried to sign the Dutchman: “Max should call Toto Wolff, who will be ready to sign him. In fact, I guarantee that that phone call has already happened“, this is Montoya’s comment reported by Casinostugan. To have Verstappen, Wolff would be willing to sacrifice George Russell: “Given Kimi Antonelli’s victories in the last two races, it is the perfect time to take that decisive step“.
The hypothesis of leaving F1
Verstappen at Mercedes is, however, a hypothesis that is difficult to realize. First of all, the Dutchman has expressed several times that he does not like the new generation of cars (and these are criticisms unrelated to the fear of no longer being competitive, as he already expressed them in 2023). The four-time world champion is not used to joking when he speaks out at these levels, and former team principal Chris Horner knows this well, having been fired by Red Bull last summer also to restore harmony after the tensions with the Dutchman’s family that arose as early as late 2023.
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Furthermore, Russell and Antonelli have multi-year contracts with Mercedes, and Verstappen also has a link with Red Bull until the end of 2028. However, it’s a safe bet that Wolff himself has included clauses that allow him to get to the Dutchman anyway, who, moreover, will be able to free himself in the summer if he is not at least second in the World Championship.
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