‘Nothing is 100 per cent’: Mercedes boss’ eye-opening Verstappen remark

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has left the door open on swirling rumours surrounding four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen.

New Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies on Friday said his first priority was to improve the car’s performance to ensure four-time champion Max Verstappen remains with the team.

The 48-year-old Frenchman said he felt sure the 27-year-old Dutchman would stay put and reject overtures from other teams, led by Mercedes, if Red Bull supplied him with a fast and competitive car.

“Max wants a fast car and if we give him a fast car, I’m sure it’s cancelling out all the other considerations,” he said.

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“So, our focus is to try to get to know the team as quickly as possible in order to see how we can support, how we can build, the next step of competitiveness in order to get a fast car -- and hence make it an easy call for Max.”

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff, who has reportedly spearheaded the move to poach Verstappen, also spoke on his driver’s futures amid uncertainty around the look of their team.

Toto Wolff on Max Verstappen and his future.

The team boss, while stating it would be likely the line-up would remain as is, did leave the door open with some eye-opening remarks.

“This is all a longshot, far-fetched. I want to stay with Kimi and George as it stands,” he said.

“Everything else is not realistic. If you have a Russell-Verstappen line-up, that’s Prost-Senna.

“There is the largest of probabilities, (though) nothing is 100 per cent, that this will be the line-up next year.”

Speaking to reporters at a scheduled team chiefs’ news conference at the Belgian Grand Prix, Mekies revealed he had little prior knowledge of events before he was contacted and offered the Red Bull job.

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing in the Team Principals Press Conference.

“It wasn’t very different for me than it was for you,” he said. “I got a call a few hours before you guys were made aware. It came from Oliver (Mintzlaff) and Helmut (Marko) and they asked me if I would be interested to do the job.

“It came out of the blue - I was actually in the UK, at Racing Bulls, and it came in a completely unexpected way.”

Mekies shared he needed some time to process the offer.

“I actually asked them if I could think about it for a few hours and I hung up the phone. It is so difficult to digest!,” he said.

“But then the first thing comes into your mind and you say ‘well, wait a second - it’s Red Bull!’ “They are calling you! They ask you to step in to do that job. And with everything that Red Bull means - its energy, its spirit, how they go about their racing teams.

“So, that’s how you pick up the phone and you say, of course, it’s an honour ... it’s a privilege.”

He added he had spent much of his first two weeks in the job trying to “understand the strengths and weaknesses” and finding “extraordinary balance and incredible racing spirit”.

“These guys go on the edge on every single aspect,” Mekies said. “There is not a single department where you see any feeling of laying back or resting. They really are at war in the good sense of the word, if I may say, in every single aspect.” Mekies’ arrival from his similar position at Racing Bulls comes after a stormy period of unrest at Red Bull sparked by Horner facing accusations of improper behaviour by a female employee, claims that were dismissed following two internal investigations.

Horner denied the claims, but the turmoil was followed by the departures of several key staff including chief designer Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley for Aston Martin and Sauber-Audi respectively.

The team’s form declined amid rumours that Verstappen was set to join Mercedes next year, taking advantage of a performance clause in his contract.

But Mekies said he had found only a positive spirit after taking charge. “Everybody has been incredibly supportive,” he said. “Willing to open the door, willing to speak and to listen.”

Originally published as ‘Nothing is 100 per cent’: Mercedes boss’ eye-opening Verstappen remark