“We still have unfinished business”, said Lewis Hamilton while signing the contract extension last year. A year later, Lewis Hamilton has left Toto Wolff with a headache to find a replacement after announcing his move to Ferrari. And amid the rumors of Max Verstappen signing for the team, the Mercedes CEO bashes his own team while ending the rumor. 

Over the last few months, amid the tensions at Red Bull after Christian Horner’s investigation followed by Adrian Newey’s exit, Toto Wolff has been linked strongly to pursuing Max Verstappen to join Mercedes. Rumors of meeting, conversation, and Wolff, himself, admitting that Verstappen is on the radar just added to the burning rumor mill of the Dutchman leaving Red Bull. However, it seems like Wolff has revealed that Mercedes isn’t good enough to attract Verstappen.

Describing the situation, according to Formulapassion.it, Toto Wolff admitted to the PA news agency that, “Max [Verstappen] will not get into a car that is not competitive and at the moment we are not competitive enough to attract a world champion. But we need to see how the next few months will go. Look at McLaren’s growth: if we can put four-tenths on the car, we will be very competitive. I have to wait for the right moment, there is no urgency.”

It looks like Wolff is hinting at the fact that with the current performance, Mercedes doesn’t have a chance to sign Verstappen. But if they can find McLaren-like gains, there is potential. But this does end the rumor of Verstappen signing a contract with Mercedes. There’s still time, and every TP is looking at the driver market closely. Verstappen doesn’t seem bothered and is delighted with the fast Red Bull.

Max Verstappen’s on money not being a factor dictating his team choice

Notably, Toto Wolff was rumored to have gone as high as €150 Million a year to try to lure Max Verstappen to Red Bull. Verstappen, on the other hand, suggested that money isn’t a factor that he considers while making the decision and that it is always about having the car with the best performance, which, at the moment, Red Bull is providing. However, looking at the last 3 races, even the performance of Red Bull is under question. 

Commenting on the rumored $162 million from Mercedes, Verstappen replied, “But at the end of the day, even if let’s say that would be the case, 150 million….money is not going to be the differentiator for me to go somewhere. I’m happy with what I’m earning already, it’s about performance. I know myself that if I will be driving for P5 or P6, you get quite grumpy with yourself. So, it’s always about performance at the end of the day. I mean, everyone knows that. Toto [Wolff] also knows that. My future is within Red Bull at the moment.”

Do you think Max Verstappen will consider the Mercedes move given the recent Red Bull struggles?