Max Verstappen wants to stay at Red Bull but Mercedes would love to steal him from his current team (Image: GETTY)
Williams team principal James Vowles has suggested Max Verstappen is still a target for his old team Mercedes despite the Dutchman publicly committing himself to Red Bull.
The reigning world champion insists he will remain with his current team for 2025 despite an unusual four-race streak without a win. He has not even been on the podium in either of the last two rounds in Hungary and Belgium.
Speaking at the Belgian Grand Prix where he went on to finish P4, Verstappen explained: “For sure, I said this already with the team, we are working and focusing also on next year to try and be competitive again.
“I’ve got a long contract with the team, I’m very happy where I’m at and, like I said before, we are focusing already on next year with things that we can implement on the car. I guess that should say enough of where I’m driving next year.”
Toto Wolff has publicly flirted with the idea of making Verstappen the successor to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The Brit will join Ferrari at the end of this season.
Kimi Antonelli, still 17 until next month and only in his first Formula Two season, is the other standout contender now that departing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has committed to Williams.
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Antonelli is the likeliest option given Verstappen’s verbal commitment to Red Bull. But Wolff said last week: “No driver decision has been made. I said we want to keep this decision as long as possible because who knows what will happen.”
And Vowles has now said: “Mercedes have more info than I do. It’s more than likely that they are very confident in the direction they will be travelling in. Whether that will be Max or Kimi, I’m unsure – but they’re not fools.”
Vowles was explaining that he ranks three-time Grand Prix winner Sainz as one of the very best drivers in F1 – and is shocked there was not huge competition to sign him. He said: “Look at Carlos. Look at every team he has been in. They have improved significantly – and I get why.
“After spending the last nine months talking to him at least weekly, what I’ve realised is he is a performance machine. He will do everything in his power to transform himself and the team around him.
“And that’s powerful. That’s worth more than what he can drive the car at. Why wouldn’t you want that in your stable? Red Bull have a Constructors’ Championship at risk – I would have Carlos alongside Max [rather than Perez].
“Red Bull will also have reasons behind it that I won’t be aware of, because they are multiple world champions. They don’t make decisions lightly, but I was surprised.”
Carlos Sainz will join Williams for 2025 and beyond (Image: GETTY)
Mercedes informed Sainz they were not prepared to commit to him while they give teenage phenomenon Antonelli time to prove himself in F2. As such, with Red Bull keeping Sergio Perez and the two McLaren seats taken, Sainz opted to join Williams.
It is a backwards step for the 29-year-old who is signed up for “2025, 2026 and beyond” but Vowles and Williams hope they can make steady forward progress in the next couple of years.
Sainz said: “I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport.
“The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity.
“I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again and starting on January 1 I will give my absolute best to drive Williams forward alongside every single member of the team.”
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