Is Aston Martin trying to become the next Red Bull? Owner Lawrence Stroll has reportedly signed Adrian Newey with a $100 million deal. Furthermore, the Canadian billionaire is seemingly interested in poaching Max Verstappen to replace the 43-year-old Fernando Alonso, whose retirement will probably begin when his current contract ends. But this wasn’t the familiar scenario that we knew for the few months before this development.

‘Verstappen to Mercedes’ found itself in many headlines in the first half of 2024. Though the reigning champion kept reaffirming his loyalty to Red Bull, something felt off. Fans and analysts suspected a lack of conviction in his statements. Moreover, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff relentlessly doubled down on this wave of speculation to manifest it into reality. After all, he’s losing a 7-time champion and Verstappen is the closest like-for-like replacement he could get.

But all that is in the past now. After stealing ex-Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey from Ferrari’s grasp, Aston Martin is replicating it for Verstappen, and their latest social media has added fuel to the speculations. Embracing the summer break spirit, the Silverstone outfit shared a video of their AMR24 chilling on the beach. In the distance, smoke trails (probably from a jet or CGI) read 14 and 18 in the sky. But here’s the twist: a volleyball thrown into the frame that bounces off the car has the number ’33’ on it.

There are two possibilities here. Either the Lawrence Stroll-led team is referring to Fernando Alonso’s much-awaited 33rd F1 victory. Or they are teasing us fans because Max Verstappen used 33 as his F1 car number before changing it to 1 after winning his first championship. Most F1 fans on X leaned towards the latter. This is a rather cheeky move from Aston’s social media admin. But as F1 fans who’ll take anything in this otherwise dry summer break, thank you! Even if this is an actual precursor for Verstappen’s arrival, it seems better than Mercedes signing him.

Why Max Verstappen to Aston Martin trumps a Mercedes move

Though Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs until 2028, his future post-2025 remains uncertain. A multitude of factors, including but not limited to Christian Horner’s ‘power struggle’ and Newey’s exit, play into it. Additionally, after the technical guru’s exit, their car immediately lost its dominant edge while McLaren and Mercedes have simultaneously improved. However, Aston Martin is nowhere, with only 73 points in 14 races.

If it’s 2025 that we’re talking about, Mercedes trumps Aston Martin any day. But 2026 is an entirely different ball game. With the regulations reset, an educated guess wouldn’t rule out AMR’s return to the front. Here’s why. Honda, whose engine is responsible for propelling Verstappen to his three championships, will jump ship to Aston come 2026. Then, Red Bull will produce its own powertrains in collaboration with Ford, which will be an unknown quantity.

On the Mercedes front, Lewis Hamilton‘s exit from the team also indicates a lack of faith in their 2026 progress. This too shifts the balance of power in Aston Martin’s favor. But all won’t be lost for Toto Wolff if he loses out on the Dutchman. He has 17-year-old F2 prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli, also touted as F1’s ‘next Max Verstappen’. In fact, an Aston move for Verstappen could work well for Mercedes too. Where would you like to see the reigning champ go? Let us know in the comments.