Toto Wolff continues to talk about Verstappen: “I’ve had a good relationship with both Jos and Helmut Marko. Red Bull no longer has the identity it once did.”
In the last few Grands Prix, Mercedes has surprised everyone with an extraordinary comeback. At the end of 2023, the Brackley team had a poor record of zero wins and only one pole position, achieved by Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian GP. This particular 2024 season, with Sir Lewis already looking forward to Ferrari, is turning out to be a great success.
Despite a W15 that didn’t start off on the right foot, the credit for this new energy at Brackley also goes to the relentless work of the team, which has continued to improve in all areas. Toto Wolff, the team principal, perfectly embodies this indomitable spirit of the British team. Wolff has never given up on both the present and the future, not losing heart after Lewis Hamilton’s departure, and instead thinking big.
Someone big, obviously, named Max Verstappen.
Given the tensions between Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Jos Verstappen (with even the team principal and Max’s father declaring war on each other), a “smart” man like Toto knows that these are the moments to apply pressure. In recent Grands Prix, Wolff has often been seen in private conversations with Marko and Jos Verstappen, without hiding his intentions.
Wolff’s Words on Verstappen
n a recent interview with Kleine Zeitung, Wolff stated: “Jos Verstappen and I are on the same wavelength and have always had a good relationship. I’ve gotten along well with Helmut Marko in private over the last few years. I see that he’s been struck by the fact that his team no longer has the identity it once did. I thought Oliver Mintzlaff was hired to manage the company with an iron fist, but it’s clear that decisions are being made elsewhere. They believed the Horner issue should have been handled differently, but that hasn’t happened.”
An additional way to apply pressure and to “twist the knife in the wound”: rumors of Max Verstappen in Mercedes, paradoxically fueled also by his father Jos, could therefore continue for several weeks, awaiting clarity in the Formula 1 market that currently seems distant.
Photo: Oracle Red Bull Racing, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
