Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff will sit down to speak with a rival Formula 1 driver in person after the 2024 Miami GP to discuss replacing Lewis Hamilton next season.
The Silver Arrows are still to secure a successor for the seven-time drivers’ champion since confirming his shock departure. Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season after he signed a multi-year contract to join Ferrari. He will replace Carlos Sainz racing in red.
Hamilton has been in Brackley since the 2013 season and enjoyed huge success following a then-controversial move from McLaren. The 39-year-old has registered 82 of his record 103 Grand Prix wins, 78 of his 104 pole positions and 148 of his 197 podiums as a Mercedes star.
Toto Wolff will speak with Max Verstappen about replacing Lewis Hamilton after the 2024 Miami GP
But Mercedes enduring back-to-back winless years in 2022 and 2023 tempted Hamilton to join Ferrari. Now, Wolff is looking to Hamilton’s arch-rival, Max Verstappen of Red Bull, to fill his void in the Mercedes garage. He will even speak with the 26-year-old after the Miami GP.
That is according to F1-Insider, which reports that Wolff and the Mercedes board will launch concrete talks with Verstappen. The Silver Arrows will use the two-week break ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP to speak to the Red Bull driver, his dad Jos Verstappen and his manager.
READ MORE: 5 unforgettable Miami GP moments including Lando Norris’ crash
Wolff, Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius and INEOS chief James Ratcliffe will all sit down with the Verstappens and Raymond Vermeulen. Verstappen will also use the discussions to decide if he wants to force a move away from Red Bull in 2025, given his contract runs through 2028.
Max Verstappen wants assurances Mercedes will improve in 2025 to quit Red Bull
Verstappen can leave Red Bull if motorsport advisor Helmut Marko departs as he has a tied release clause. But Verstappen does not have a release clause linked to Adrian Newey amid doubts over his future. He also wants certain assurances from Wolff before deciding to join.
The three-time reigning drivers’ champion wants Mercedes to provide assurances that their car will improve in 2025. Verstappen also wants the Silver Arrows to target key members of Red Bull’s technical staff. Mercedes are not against making Verstappen happy to join, either.
READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth and girlfriend to height
Mercedes are open to giving Verstappen an ambassadorial role that could take his salary to €150m (£129m) a year. Wolff is not against poaching Marko, either. The 81-year-old is under contract to Red Bull’s parent company until 2027 and heads their young driver programme.
Verstappen will prioritise Mercedes’ car and what they have planned for Formula 1’s engine and technical regulation changes in 2026 over a sky-high wage. But Wolff will hope the deal they put on the table is enough to sign the driver Nico Rosberg feels is in a class of his own.
“Everybody behind [Verstappen] is on a similar level and the racing was awesome,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1 (20/4, 05:35) following the Sprint at the Chinese GP. “It was just such an awesome Sprint race, so cool, [there was] so much going on.
“The only difficulty is Max Verstappen’s pace. When he had the clean air, it’s just insane how quick he is with that car. [He is on] another planet. That’s a little bit of a difficulty [for F1]. But, apart from that, it was amazing.”
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