Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ previous negotiations are revealed by Toto Wolff.

Max Verstappen reportedly had “initial” conversations with Toto Wolff about joining Mercedes as a junior driver, but he ultimately decided to drive for Red Bull due to the lack of F1 advancement opportunities at the time.

In the early years of the turbo hybrid era, Mercedes was locked into their winning combination of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, but Verstappen would eventually become the sport’s youngest-ever driver when he chose Red Bull and joined Toro Rosso for the 2015 season.

Verstappen was propelled into the big time after joining the Red Bull ranks, skipping the well-traveled GP3 and GP2 path (now FIA F3 and F2) for junior drivers in the process.
Verstappen had only raced in cars for one season at the time after graduating from karting.

Max Verstappen was not eligible for a seat, according to Toto Wolff.

According to Wolff, Mercedes offered Verstappen assistance in the junior ranks and a Formula 2 seat as part of their negotiations, but because the Dutchman was unproven and Mercedes dominated at the front of F1 with two competitive team members and no seat was up for renewal, there was no immediate way for him to move up to the top tier with the team.

Upon being questioned about whether he could have signed the now-dual World Champion in the past, Wolff responded, “Max was very good in karting, was good in F3, and it was clear that there’s a big one that’s growing.”.

And when we first spoke with them, Jos and Max were also present for what turned out to be a pleasant conversation.

“But it was clear that we couldn’t give him a seat because we already had Lewis and Nico, and we offered the support in F2; however, since Red Bull was able to offer them the seat at AlphaTauri, or Toro Rosso back in the day, it allowed Max to get the seat.
“.

The abrupt retirement of Rosberg from the sport after winning the World Championship at the end of 2016 rocked the foundations of the Mercedes team, leaving Wolff to find a replacement.

The Mercedes team manager was questioned about whether Verstappen might have made a different choice if he had known a Mercedes seat would have been on the horizon a year later.
He duly hired Valtteri Bottas from Williams, who would partner Hamilton for the next five seasons at the Silver Arrows.

All ifs and buts, in the opinion of the team manager.

Wolff retorted, “Well, maybe.
“But, you know, if and when – if I knew where the stock market was going to be next year, I would decide to invest in it or not,” she continued.

If we knew what would happen in a year, we would be very content and wealthy.
“.