Wolff's praised about tactics around Verstappen: 'Creates constant turmoil'

With the imminent departure of Adrian Newey at Red Bull Racing, the dismantling of the Austrian success team seems to have begun. Max Verstappen is (for now) on boards at the squad, but it remains impossible to rule out the possibility that the Dutchman will seek refuge elsewhere at some point. Toto Wolff, the CEO and team principal of the Mercedes F1 team, is more than happy to see the Dutchman come, it is more than clear. The Austrian continues to bombard Verstappen with advances, no doubt to the irritation of Red Bull's team boss Christian Horner.

That Wolff has not (yet) put Verstappen out of his mind as a potential reinforcement for Mercedes are very understandable to Christijan Albers. After all, Wolff too sees that things are and will remain unsettled at Red Bull, and there may come a time when Verstappen says: 'I'm done with it, I'm leaving'. In that case, the Austrian is ready to lure Verstappen in.

So, the former F1 driver states in a De Telegraaf's podcast: "Toto sees an opening, to keep creating turmoil at the team. Any time he can stir it up, he just keeps doing it. And those two (Horner and Wolff, ed.), they don't really love each other either. There's not really a love affair either. If you start thinking about it, it's a super good strategy by Toto, because he is constantly trying to keep the pressure on and see how far he can go. As a team principal, you always have to keep pushing and be alert, and see what's best for your team."

Afraid that Wolff will end up without a top driver, Albers does not think that will be the case. Indeed, the current analyst believes that the longer Verstappen is an option for Mercedes, the better off the German team will be. "It gives him a better position of power in negotiations with other drivers," argues the former F1 driver, who also spent some time as team principal at Midland in Formula 1.