Toto Wolff Ready to Sacrifice Kimi Antonelli if Red Bull’s “Toxic Environment” Yields Top Target

Adrian Newey’s exit stirred up the F1 paddock and gave confirmation regarding the power struggles going on at Red Bull. Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko’s exit were the next rumors to come up, following the Chief Technical Officer’s exit. Zak Brown used this opportunity and took a jab at Christian Horner, suggesting that Newey is just the first of many to fall and that the resumes of Red Bull people are flying around the paddock, while Toto Wolff backed his claims.

Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull has seen the team lose a massive player in their chase for the World Championship. The Austrian outfit has been plagued by several rumors in the recent past including an assault allegation against its boss, Christian Horner. And now, some allegations claim Red Bull might even lose out on Max Verstappen. On the other hand, Mercedes is currently on the lookout for a new recruit as Lewis Hamilton is traveling to Maranello in 2025.

While the task of replacing the seven-time World Champion is a daunting one, Toto Wolff might have just the right guy for it. 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli, whom Mercedes had signed as a junior in 2019, is rumored to be joining the Stuttgart outfit as George Russell’s teammate. But now, some new reports claim Antonelli’s Mercedes deal might fall through because of Max Verstappen. So why might Toto Wolff ‘sacrifice’ the Italian prodigy for the Dutchman?

Toto Wolff might ditch Kimi Antonelli in Max Verstappen’s favor

Max Verstappen signed a deal with Red Bull back in 2022 following his World Championship win. The deal explains that the Dutch lion will stay with the Austrian outfit until 2028. However, situations at Red Bull have changed vastly since then. With Adrian Newey leaving the team, it has lost a key player in the Championship battle. SPORT1 reported Toto Wolff is keeping his hopes up since there is a big chance that Max Verstappen would toss his allegiance to Horner to settle in at Mercedes. However, Wolff’s options about hiring Max Verstappen might come as a shock to the fans.

Previously, several outlets had confirmed that Kimi Antonelli has all but signed a deal with Mercedes already. In fact, only a few days ago, Helmut Marko himself said he had read somewhere that the Italian prodigy is moving to Brackley. On the other hand, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez has renewed his deal with Red Bull only recently. Yet, the pair is still not guaranteed to drive for the Milton-Keynes team next year as Max might leave. Moreover, McLaren boss Zak Brown has revealed some insider facts about Red Bull losing its members in the wake of Newey leaving the team.

Zak Brown predicts a grave future for Red Bull following Newey’s exit

Red Bull had a long association with car wizard Adrian Newey which will come to an end in early 2025. Hence, Newey has a loyal base in the team which might leave since he is not there anymore. Speaking on this, Brown said, “Adrian Newey leaving is a big deal because there’re a lot of people there that wanted to work alongside him. There’s always CVs flying around, but you can see a higher level of discomfort there.”

Of course, what the papaya army boss means by ‘CVs flying around’ is that several people are now thinking of leaving Red Bull. Thus, if Brown’s prediction holds some truth, Max Verstappen‘s situation at Red Bull is not concrete right now. And it does not help matters that the RB20 does not seem as fast as its predecessor RB19. In fact, after the Canadian GP, Ferrari is currently only 14 points behind the Dutch team.

Do you think these underwhelming statistics might lead to Red Bull losing Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Let us know in the comments below.