Mercedes Would Take Verstappen 'Just To Rob Their Big Rivals' Suggests Villeneuve
F1Sunday, 04 August 2024 at 12:00
Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve suggested Mercedes would sign Max Verstappen and replace one of their long-term investments "just to rob their big rivals."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has been publicly courting Max Verstappen, trying to lure him to quit the Milton Keynes squad and join the German F1 team.
This has been going on since the start of the season but without much visible progress. As it stands, the 26-year-old plans to stay with Red Bull.
However, the Austrian team looks to be starting to lose ground under their feet as Mercedes and McLaren have caught up with them in terms of performance, and Ferrari isn't far behind either.
Red Bull is no longer the dominant team it was last year. Does it still make sense for the Dutchman to stick with them? 1997 Champion Jacques Villeneuve told Instantcasino.com:
"It depends on what becomes available for Max Verstappen. There is no space at McLaren. Would he be treated any better at Mercedes? "
"And would he take George Russell or Kimi Antonelli's seat? Both Russell and Antonelli are Mercedes products and have been heavily invested in."
George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are both Mercedes juniors, in which Wolff puts his hope. The team principal believes both of these drivers are future World Champions.
So would it make sense for him to take Verstappen instead of one of them? Villeneuve suggests the Wolff would do so just to rob Red Bull of one of their biggest assets.
"But, Mercedes would probably want to sign Verstappen just to rob their big rivals, Red Bull, of their star driver."
"There is no good team for Verstappen to go to right now, but in the long term, we'll have to see. He's been in the Red Bull bubble his whole career, and it won't be easy to recreate that comfortable atmosphere at another team."
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