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Max Verstappen Reveals Toto Wolff & Co. Claim He Needs Them to Succeed: ”They Want Me in That Car”

Published 04/06/2024, 3:59 AM EDT

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via Imago

Almost everyone believes that Max Verstappen will move to Mercedes in 2025. The rumors started right after the Bahrain Grand Prix when reports of Christian Horner trying to take over the team first began.

While Max’s father, Jos Verstappen is unhappy with the unstable management at Red Bull, the 3-time-champion has revealed that he will stay with Red Bull. However, the Verstappens have always been in touch with Toto Wolff. Even before the Red Bull days the Silver Arrows team boss had once told Verstappen something, that Max just had to prove wrong.

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen had a word with Dutch reporters where he spoke about a conversation with Mercedes Boss, from before he started driving for Red Bull. Toto Wolff at the time was giving Verstappen advice about his career. Limburger asked Verstappen about the chances of him joining Mercedes.

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To this, Max Verstappen replied saying, “He [Toto Wolff] can’t do anything else. I understand why he does it. You can’t ignore me. In the past, even before Red Bull, we had discussions with Mercedes.”  The Dutchman continued saying, “I think I have now shown how it should be done. They want me in that car, I understand that.

via Reuters

Elaborating on the tensions between him and Mercedes in 2021, Verstappen said, “But that can all be forgiven and forgotten. That’s true on both sides. But that doesn’t mean I think I should be driving somewhere else right now. In addition, Mercedes does not have the fastest car at the moment. That really is the Red Bull.”

Red Bull is the clear winner when it comes to who makes a better car. Unfortunately, Mercedes has yet to figure out what they got wrong with their W15. Verstappen is supposed to be starting at the Pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix and Suzuka has been an important circuit for the Dutchman. Let’s take a look at what he had to say about the Suzuka circuit, ahead of the qualifiers.

Max Verstappen’s connection with Suzuka

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The Defending champion has many fond memories of driving in Japan and this was highlighted in the interview with Limburger. The interviewer brought up how this was where the F1 journey started back in 2014. Max then said, “At the time it was: ‘Wow!’ That was the moment I thought, ‘Shit! This is going so fast.'” Verstappen explained how Suzuka is a difficult circuit and even more so when you’re driving 2014 cars.

via Reuters

Verstappen mentions how he loves visiting Japan and how he always has good races there. Then a comparison to his experience last year with Singapore was brought up. After having a retired race in Australia, the defending champion was asked if he would show a similar performance as he did after Singapore. To this, he responded positively saying that he is convinced that he could have also won at Melbourne even though Ferrari did perform quite well that weekend.

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For now, we can expect to see Max Verstappen continuing with Red Bull as a good car is crucial for winning races. And despite Mercedes pursuing Verstappen at the moment, he will not make a move until they have a better car. Currently, Mercedes is not in the race for the top spot as they are now finding themselves in the midfield more often. Do you think the Silver Arrows will make a comeback and win Verstappen over? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Viren Mirpuri

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Viren Mirpuri is an F1 Writer at EssentiallySports. With a Degree in Mass Media and a Specialization in Journalism, Viren is known for his speedy race day coverage outside of discussing the engine technicalities. Whether he's dissecting the latest technical innovations or unraveling the drama on and off the track, he ensures that his readers stay engaged and informed.
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Edited by:

Harshita