Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff insists there is no disappointment at seeing Max Verstappen pledge his future to Red Bull until 2020 following speculation the world champions were considering the Dutchman for 2019.
The 20-year-old was thought to be considering his future at the Milton Keynes outfit after a difficult 2017 marred by reliability problems and a general lack of results but strong recent progress with two wins in the last four races and some persuading by team boss Christian Horner was enough to get Verstappen to sign an extension.
Undoubtedly, that will have caused a few sighs at their rivals, who now have to contend with Formula 1’s rising star potentially leading the re-emergence of one of the sport’s current powerhouses, but Wolff sees his rival’s motives for doing a deal early.
“I think Red Bull was very keen in extending Max’s contract by a year, in order to make sure that he stays there for the next three years,” he said. “If I were in Red Bull shoes, and I believe in his abilities, probably stability is important and so far absolutely understandable from myself.”
The Mercedes chief also claimed no effort was made to sign Verstappen when asked if there was any sadness on missing out on arguably F1’s most valuable commodity.
“Absolutely not. Why should I be sad?” he replied. “We see there are strong drivers all through the top teams now, and it doesn’t come unexpectedly. And to be clear, we’ve never talked to him about a contract.”
The recent moves made by Red Bull have led some to wonder if the three-time Grand Prix winner is now the lead driver at the team at the expense of Daniel Ricciardo, but advisor Helmut Marko suggested it was, in fact, the Australian causing the shift as he holds back over his future.
“We started with Max in F1, he had his first victory and now we want to achieve the championship title as the youngest ever F1 driver,” he said. “Yes, both drivers, Max and Ricciardo, could have been free after ’18 so we tried to secure at least one driver because Max asked if we could make a deal to 2020.
“Ricciardo was putting himself on the market,” Marko added. “So now we are talking with him.”
Max’s decision to stay was also welcomed by father and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, who praised Red Bull’s efforts during the season.
“The team has moved heaven and earth to become more competitive again,” he told Holland’s Ziggo Sport Totaal.
“When you look at the state of the car at the beginning of the season and how good it is now, that answers the question of what makes a top team. All the changes made fit wonderfully with Max’s driving style, it is noticeable on the stopwatch.”
