Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has hinted that there are four drivers under consideration for a seat with Mercedes in 2025, with Max Verstappen heading the list.
The bombshell announcement ahead of the current campaign that Lewis Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari next season has opened up a vacant position at Mercedes.
While Verstappen has continued to dominate the nascent stages of the 2024 season, the unrest within Red Bull has seen him linked with a blockbuster Mercedes switch.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner was cleared from allegations of inappropriate behaviour, but Max’s father, Jos, claimed his presence could “tear apart” the team.
Those comments came amid Verstappen Sr being pictured speaking with Wolff in the Bahrain paddock, with rumours that the two dined together earlier in that weekend.
Despite Verstappen having since clarified that he intends to complete his Red Bull deal through 2028, Wolff is tracking developments surrounding the Dutchman’s future.
“You know that as much as we were taken aback by Lewis’ decision so quickly, now I really want to take my time,” he told Fox Sports Australia.
“We have a slot free, the only one in the top teams. Unless Max decides he goes, then the slot is not going to be free with us anymore.
“There are a few options that are really interesting for us, from the very young super talent to some of the older ones who are very experienced.
“And that’s not going to happen in the next few weeks or a month, so I want to continue to monitor the market.”
Wolff denied that a decision could be postponed right until the end of the season, adding that it would occur “towards the summer” and “depends on what Max does”.
The Austrian also suggested that Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is competing in Formula 2, is an option, along with Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes had attempted to sign Verstappen prior to his F1 debut at 17 in 2015, but the marque was unable to guarantee an instant promotion to the top flight like Red Bull.
“I’ve seen him in Formula 3 and he was very good and I have a good relationship to his father,” he recalled “So we sat down in my home in Vienna and said, ‘what can we do?’
“And I wasn’t able to give him a Formula 1 seat. I said, let’s do F2 together. It was GP2 back in the day. And we fully funded and then I’ll guarantee a seat next year in the car.
“And they said, ‘well, we have an offer from Red Bull for an Alpha Tauri [Toro Rosso] basically from now on’, and that was it.
I knew that we wouldn’t be able to compete with that. And half into the season, he replaced another driver in Red Bull and took the seat and here we go, he’s a three-time World Champion.”
Put to him it would represent a full circle moment for Verstappen to end up at Mercedes, Wolff said: “Exactly, so it’s a kind of relationship that needs to happen at a certain stage, but we don’t know when.”
