Toto Wolff has revealed for the first time that he would love to have Max Verstappen at Mercedes – as Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted no individual is bigger than the team.
Verstappen’s Red Bull future is in the spotlight amid the in-fighting at Formula One’s dominant franchise.
The Dutchman, who won Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to land his second win of the season – and his ninth in a row – opened the door to sensationally quitting Red Bull if motorsport adviser Helmut Marko is forced out.
It emerged this weekend that Marko could be suspended as a result of Red Bull’s inquiry into Horner, although the 80-year-old Austrian said prior to Saturday’s race that he expects to carry on.
However, the unrest at Red Bull has put Mercedes – seeking a replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in 2025 – on red alert.
And when asked following Saturday’s race in Jeddah if it would be good for Formula One for Verstappen to switch teams, Wolff replied: “I would love to have him.
“But first we need to sort out our car. We owe it to our current drivers to improve the car and give them equipment that is good before dreaming about the future next year.”
Wolff was then asked if Verstappen, whose deal runs until 2028, was now top of his wishlist.
“Let’s word it like this,” he replied. “It is a decision that Max needs to take and there is no team up and down the grid who wouldn’t do handstands to have him in their car.”
Verstappen has won 19 of the last 20 F1 races and is overwhelming favourite to land a fourth consecutive world championship.
Mercedes have tasted just one victory since the end of 2021, and George Russell and Hamilton finished only sixth and ninth respectively on Saturday.
Responding to Wolff’s comments, Horner said: “I am sure every team in the paddock would love to have Max but, as Toto also said, the best drivers want to be in the best cars.
“We are a team. Max has achieved his 56th win and his 100th podium today – all of which have been in Red Bull Racing cars.
“But you cannot force someone to be somewhere because of a piece of paper. If somebody doesn’t want to be at the team I am not going to force anyone against their will to be here.
“Max has been here since he was 18 and I have no doubt of his commitment and his passion, but no individual is bigger than the team.”
Earlier, Red Bull’s group CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said Verstappen will not be leaving.
Asked by the PA news agency prior to Saturday’s race if the Dutch driver will remain with the team, Mintzlaff said: “Of course. He has a contract.
“Max is a great driver and hopefully we will win tonight. I am here just for racing. That’s it.”
'I would have won title much earlier in the McLaren', claims Verstappen
Max Verstappen claimed that he would have won his fourth world title "much earlier" had he been driving for McLaren instead of Red Bull.
Verstappen clinched this year's championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last Sunday, finishing fifth, a place ahead of title rival Lando Norris, which was all he needed to do.
He joined Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four world titles, with only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton (both seven) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) winning more.
Verstappen has won eight races this season, the latest of which came in a stunning wet-weather performance at Interlagos to all but end Norris' hopes of challenging him.
Should he fail to win another race, he will be the F1 champion with the fewest victories in a season since 2012, when Vettel only needed five race victories to triumph.
But his season did not come without its struggles, despite winning seven of the first 10 races of the season.
Prior to his win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, he had gone nine races without a pole position and 10 without a win, his worst streak since the penultimate round in 2020, when he went 17 qualifying rounds without a pole and 11 consecutive races without a victory.
He said after clinching the crown on Sunday that he was "very proud" of retaining the championship as "for 70 per cent of the season we didn't have the fastest car, but actually we still extended our lead".
This was seemingly on his mind after McLaren's chief executive, Zak Brown, stopped to congratulate the Dutchman on his title win midway through an interview.
The Dutchman quipped "like you said, before I could only win it in the fastest car. This year has been a little bit different!", in apparent reference to comments made by Brown earlier this year.
Brown said in an interview with F1's Beyond the Grid podcast back in May that Verstappen "would not be able to win the world championship today in any other car other than the Red Bull."
But speaking later on to Dutch media as his title celebrations continued, Verstappen was quoted by De Telegraaf as saying: "Things like that only motivate me.
"If people are critical and think that I can only win in the best car, then I prove the opposite," Verstappen said.
"If I don't get credit for this now, then I don't know what else I can do. Would I have become champion in the McLaren? Yes! And much earlier too."
Up next for Verstappen is the Qatar Grand Prix, where he has the chance to make even more history in the competition.
Should he finish fourth or higher, he will become only the third driver in Formula 1 history to break the 3000 points barrier (2989.50 currently), something only Hamilton (4847.50) and Vettel (3098) have achieved.
General Motors reach agreement for F1 team in 2026
General Motors are set to enter a team under their Cadillac brand into Formula One in 2026, having reached an agreement in principle.
Formula One have said their application would “move forward” after GM and their partner, US-based TWG Group, released a statement on Monday committing to name a new team after their luxury Cadillac brand.
GM have said they will build their own engine further down the road, but it is not expected before 2028. Until then, they will have to buy a customer engine from an existing supplier.
Despite rejecting a bid for an Andretti team that was in partnership with Cadillac in January, Formula One want to see greater investment from the United States and thus views a team owned by GM differently.
"General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) world and is working with impressive partners,” the president of the FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem said, as reported by BBC Sport.
"I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to work towards an agreement in principle to progress this application to bring a GM/Cadillac branded team onto the grid for the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship.”
This season, Max Verstappen clinched his fourth straight Formula One world title on Sunday at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
More history beckons for Verstappen but fourth F1 title not fully convincing
Despite a mid-season wobble allowing McLaren's Lando Norris to make things interesting, Max Verstappen is Formula One's drivers' champion again.
The Red Bull driver may have only placed fifth at Saturday's Las Vegas Grand Prix, but finishing one place ahead of Norris was enough to wrap up the title with two races to spare.
Only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, with seven apiece, plus Juan Manuel Fangio (five) have now bettered Verstappen's four world crowns in F1 history.
Speaking after Saturday's celebrations, Verstappen said the difficulties affecting Red Bull in 2024 – from Adrian Newey's exit to reports of tensions between team officials and his father Jos – necessitated laser-sharp levels of focus.
"The beginning was a bit messy but I think I'm quite calm in those situations," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"I think it's very difficult to disturb me with anything. I'm very focused on the racing side of things.
"I know that when I sit in the car, I forget about everything, even positive or negative stuff. I focus on what's ahead of me and that's performance, and I drive the car as fast as I can."
After Verstappen further cemented his place in F1 history, we run through the best Opta facts to emerge from his latest title triumph.
An unconvincing triumph?
Verstappen sent records tumbling with his third title triumph in 2023, winning a remarkable 19 of 22 races to smash his own record for the most victories in a single season (15 in 2022).
This term, he has had to do things a different way. With just two races remaining in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Verstappen has eight victories to his name. Should he fail to win another race, he will be the F1 champion with the fewest victories in a season since 2012, when Sebastian Vettel only needed five race victories to triumph.
The tight nature of the field – alongside the struggles of Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez – means there is a real chance of Red Bull finishing outside the top two in the constructors' championship standings.
They currently have 555 points, with leaders McLaren amassing 608 and Ferrari boasting 584 in second.
Should Red Bull finish third, Verstappen will be the first F1 drivers' champion to not represent one of the top two teams since 1983, when Nelson Piquet triumphed despite Brabham finishing third, behind Ferrari and Renault.
While some may argue Verstappen has benefited from not having one consistent title rival, he also deserves credit for shaking off his team's troubles to come out on top.
The key moments
Several key moments helped Verstappen maintain his stranglehold on the drivers' title.
Seven wins in the first 10 races saw him fly out of the traps, including back-to-back victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the opening two weeks. At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he became just the seventh driver to surpass 100 podium finishes in F1 history.
He now has 111, fewer only than Hamilton (201), Schumacher (155) and Vettel (122).
However, Verstappen failed to win from pole at Red Bull's home grand prix in Austria in June, and that race kickstarted a run of 10 without victory for the Dutchman.
His next win arrived in Sao Paulo in early November, and it was certainly worth the wait.
He raced from 17th to take the spoils in a chaotic race, becoming the first driver in F1 history to win from 10 different positions on the grid. It was only the sixth time a driver has climbed at least 16 places to win a race, and the first such occasion since Kimi Raikkonen in Japan in 2005 (also 16).
And where better to seal the title than under the bright lights of Las Vegas?
The F1 drivers' champion has now been crowned in the United States on nine occasions. Only Japan (13) and Italy (11) have played host to more coronations.
Of those nine occasions, three have taken place in the city of Las Vegas: two at the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in 1981 (Piquet) and 1982 (Keke Rosberg), and Verstappen's triumph this year.
More history in the making?
Verstappen's four titles have all come in succession, making him just the fifth driver to achieve that feat and the fourth to do so since the turn of the century.
In 2025, Verstappen will aim to become just the second driver to reign supreme for five years.
Schumacher won five titles in a row between 2000 and 2004 while Vettel (2010-2013) and Hamilton (2017-2020) have achieved four-peats more recently. Fangio previously won four straight crowns from 1954 to 1957.
While Hamilton's move to Ferrari and the continued development of McLaren duo Norris and Oscar Piastri should keep things competitive, few would bet against Verstappen's reign continuing.
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