Any team would be lucky to have Max Verstappen currently. The reigning triple world champion has hardly put a foot wrong since winning his first championship in Abu Dhabi in 2021. However, in a shocking development, a former F1 driver has now reported that Max Verstappen is very close to replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.The current debacle at Red Bull Racing seems to have taken its toll on the Dutchman. To make things worse, Christian Horner and Max’s father, Jos’ sour relationship have not helped Red Bull’s case. 3x F1 race winner Johnny Herbert has reported that Verstappen is close to moving to Mercedes next season.
The former driver told The Sun:
“It doesn’t help the situation for Red Bull who have the best driver in the world at the present time. And they’re very close to pushing Max Verstappen out of the team. I’ve heard they are getting quite close with the deal with Mercedes.”
He also added:
“It’s the impact, the possible destroying of the team and the success they have had.”
The British national also stated that Red Bull “would be stupid” to let Max walk away amidst all the chaos surrounding the energy drink company.
Helmut Marko recently denied him and Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes
Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko cleared the air about Max Verstappen and his future. The Red Bull team has been under the spotlight since the beginning of the season.
After Christian Horner’s investigation, Helmut Marko also found himself investigated according to many reports. Verstappen then came out in support of Helmut Marko, stating his future relied largely on the Austrian continuing at Red Bull.However, soon after, the senior Red Bull figure told Soymotor that the duo were not moving to Mercedes “at the moment”.
Marko said:
“It’s a long time… I was very grateful for Max’s loyalty. He impressed me. At the moment we are not going to go to Mercedes together.”
Despite the media coverage surrounding the team, Verstappen would be focussing on the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.The Dutch Lion has won successive races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this season. If Max manages to win the race in Melbourne, he will tie the record for most consecutive F1 race wins ever. The other person with the record? That would be Max himself after he won 10 times last year between Miami to Monza.Will Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes to end Red Bull’s current dominance and make F1 exciting again?
