Albers sees opening for Mercedes: 'Then Verstappen may well leave in '25''

Albers also saw Verstappen take victory with his RB20 at Imola last weekend, although the Dutchman had to go particularly deep for it. Little seems to remain of the enormous dominance that Verstappen and Red Bull had until recently. That is precisely where Albers believes the key lies for Wolff to bring Verstappen in, according to Albers in the Telegraaf's F1 podcast.

"If Red Bull cannot maintain this position, in terms of being supreme, and he finds that he is no longer competitive, he might still switch teams," Albers said. "But if you look very realistically, the Red Bull is still one of the strongest cars. He does have to go for it, like in Imola, but there was also an update on the car. You don't immediately realise in one weekend what such a car can do then. So that's also fine-tuning and that's where you can find a few tenths."

Verstappen following in Hamilton's footsteps?

Should it turn out that Red Bull drops off during the season, Mercedes could therefore be the only real alternative for Verstappen. "That team is really a drama, but the year is still quite long," Albers said of the Germans. "But they did make a mega offer there to bring him in. For a sportsman, it really is a challenge. Like Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton, how fantastic is it not to leave somewhere and try to become World Champion with another team?"

In conclusion, Albers says: "If Red Bull stays strong, he will stay for '25. But I give no guarantees for '26. Then he could well make a move." And should Verstappen not move to Mercedes next year, is Carlos Sainz an option for Mercedes? No, argues Albers: "He just doesn't have the speed. It's not going to happen."

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy