F1 Today | Ferrari 'trying' to get Verstappen; Wolff will 'protest' about Mekies

Giancarlo Minardi has suggested that Ferrari is actively working to bring Max Verstappen to Maranello in the near future. The former F1 manager believes “secret negotiations” and discussions have taken place, but doubts whether the Dutchman sees Ferrari as a winning project right now.

Verstappen himself admitted he would only consider driving for Ferrari if the team offered a genuine chance to fight for victories and championships. While acknowledging Ferrari’s prestige and emotional pull, he stressed that passion alone would not guide his decision.

With the new 2026 regulations set to shake up Formula 1, Verstappen left the door open for future possibilities. He underlined that his priority remains being in the best car on the grid, and that any move to Ferrari would have to be driven by performance, not sentiment.

Toto Wolff has raised concerns over Laurent Mekies’s swift move to Red Bull Racing without serving the otherwise gardening leave, given his dual role as CEO of both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls. Wolff noted that while labor laws in Switzerland, the UK, and Italy don’t outright block such moves, the situation highlights the advantage sister teams enjoy in moving personnel around freely.

Normally in Formula 1, senior staff must serve lengthy gardening leave periods to prevent sensitive information from moving directly to a rival team. High-profile figures like Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, and David Sanchez all had to wait months before starting new roles at different teams, ensuring a competitive balance.

Competitors are increasingly frustrated by Red Bull’s ability to bypass this restriction through its close cooperation with Racing Bulls. While there are talks of introducing mandatory gardening leave for top personnel across all teams, no formal regulation has been put in place yet, leaving a grey area that continues to fuel debate.

Max Verstappen dominated the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, securing victory with a gap of nearly 20 seconds over Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. His performance was boosted by Red Bull’s introduction of a new floor, which provided a significant improvement in downforce.

The upgrade marked a key step forward for Red Bull, allowing Verstappen to extract even more pace from the RB20 and maintain a commanding lead throughout the race. The team credited the development as a turning point in refining the car’s overall balance and efficiency.

After the race, Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Waché explained that the new setup direction had already shown promise in Zandvoort and was further optimized in Monza. He expressed optimism about carrying the gains into upcoming races, though he admitted the team will need to see how the package performs across different circuits.

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