Red Bull Once Forced Max Verstappen Into Quick Decision Amid Looming Mercedes F1 Fear

Well, the Red Bull golden boy Max Verstappen, who we’ve all come to appreciate today, may not have been a Red Bull star if it wasn’t for a quick decision.

During his days racing for Van Amersfoort Racing, Verstappen showed his skill at the Belgian circuit where he bagged three victories despite the mixed weather conditions. Where most drivers braked, Max ‘shifted up’ and was 2 seconds faster than everybody else.

The Dutch boy was catching everyone’s attention. Red Bull was interested. However, any formal action was yet to be taken. Former F1 driver, Gerhard Berger, brought this to the attention of the three-time world champion and non-executive director at Mercedes Niki Lauda.

In an interview, Red Bull’s adviser Helmut Marko shared, “We talked to the Verstappens but then Gerhard Berger drew Lauda’s attention at Mercedes. Niki immediately jumped on the cart.”

“We then made him an offer directly at the race weekend in Spielberg and told him that he had to make a decision quickly.”

Signing with Mercedes, Verstappen would have had to go the traditional way, competing in junior formulas before rising to F1. However, his signing with Red Bull put him directly in an F1 car.

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Red Bull made a quick decision to bring in Max and all know how the rest worked out. However, Red Bull had to drop their existing driver to bring in Max.

How Max Verstappen’s entry in Red Bull played out

In the beginning, as any junior driver, Max Verstappen was placed in Toro Rosso. Just months after all the aforementioned discussions, Max was the youngest driver in history to be starting at a Grand Prix. This was for the Australian Grand Prix in 2015. The Dutch boy was only 17 years of age.

However, Max’s time in Red Bull’s junior team was not going so well with the ever-growing rivalry between him and his then-teammate, Carlos Sainz. As Marko stated, “That wasn’t a healthy relationship with Toro Rosso.” Moreover, Verstappen Sr. and Sainz Sr. were also often difficult.

Amid all this, Daniil Kvyat was underperforming in the main team and Red Bull had to take action. This is when Red Bull promoted Max, giving him Kvyat’s seat. It didn’t take Verstappen to soar as he became the youngest F1 race winner, winning Spanish Grand Prix in his debut race with Red Bull. Since he was just an 18-year-old, he wasn’t just a winner but was also a record holder.

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Clearly, signing Max Verstappen was one of the best decisions for Red Bull. This has been paying off since the boy’s first race with the team. And today he holds two consecutive World Champion titles. As things stand, there doesn’t seem to be anything that will stop the Dutch Lion.