Why Verstappen should not go to Mercedes

Although Max Verstappen has already won a race this season and finished on the podium a total of seven times, his title dream soon turned out to be back on ice. Red Bull again had not built a championship-worthy car, so the Dutchman will most likely have to be satisfied with podium finishes and the occasional victory for the next year and a half.

Only in 2022 do there seem to be new opportunities for him, when the rules will be overhauled. Some of the Verstappen fans are increasingly calling for change. A potential destination that is logically often mentioned is Mercedes, the team that won the title for the past six years and will easily take number seven this year.

Ziggo presenter Rob Kamphues also noticed this when he was with Robert Doornbos during Crashing in the Kitchen talks about the future of Verstappen. “At the bakery, at the gas station, everyone says that Max has to go to Mercedes”, the presenter reasons. Doornbos disagrees. “You cannot say that Mercedes will still be dominant in 2022, because then the whole structure must remain the same.” And that may not be the case “, Kamphues reveals.” We know why it might not be a good idea to go to Mercedes. ”

Eddie Jordan said in the Formula 1 cafe last week that he knew INEOS, one of Mercedes’ main sponsors, was going to buy the Formula 1 team. In the paddock that was certainly denied, but Doornbos appeared to have received a phone call with more information about an imminent deal, he acknowledges.

“In the automotive industry it now appears that a majority stake will not be sold to Mercedes. The racing team is separate from the Daimler group, but they do own 60% of the shares. Toto Wolff has 30% and Niki Lauda had also 10% of the shares. The story now goes that 300 million will be deposited for the 40% of Wolff and Lauda “, explains Doornbos.

Then, according to the former driver, it is uncertain whether Mercedes is the team to go to in the future. “Wolff is going to cash in and then the question is whether he will stay with Mercedes or go to Aston Martin”, said Doornbos. According to Kamphues, that could mean the end. “If Wolff goes to Aston Martin, for example, Mercedes will collapse”, he thinks.

“Of course”, Doornbos responds. “You need such a team boss. So to say that Max has to go to Mercedes in 2022? I never said that at all, because you think that 6 to 7 years of dominance will end at some point,” said Doornbos.

Verstappen, the ideal sportsman, got everything out of his car in Russia. Everything about his weekend, the do-not-penalty for Lewis Hamilton and the ‘winning’ Bottas discuss Tom Coronel, Ruud Dimmers and host Thomas van Groningen in the latest episode of the RacingNews365 F1 podcast, which can be heard below.