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The F1 community has aimed at Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff for publicly condoning Max Verstappen's future as a Silver Arrows driver.
Verstappen stepped into the realm of Formula 1 in 2015, driving for Red Bull's sister team, the then-Scuderia Toro Rosso. The very next year saw the reigning world champion being promoted to the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, and since then, he's cemented his place in the team until 2028.
However, Christian Horner's intra-organization saga involving a female Red Bull employee has created massive instability in the paddock. Furthermore, Jos Verstappen's remarks about the team being in "danger of being torn apart" if the team principal doesn't resign sparked rumors about the Dutchman's shift to another team.
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Shortly after the season-opener Bahrain GP, Max Verstappen's father and Toto Wolff were spotted having a rather friendly chat, which added fuel to the fire about the 3x F1 world champion potentially switching to Mercedes. Even though Wolff tried to keep the conversation to himself, he remarked, "Anything is possible" when asked about Verstappen joining Mercedes.
However, this time, Wolff has come clean about having Max Verstappen as a driver when the Dutchman is available to join hands with another team. An excerpt of the Mercedes boss' assertion about the 26-year-old RB20 driver was posted by Formula 1 on their X (formerly Twitter) account:
"I'd love to have him," said Wolff."
Fans were quick to take note of the 52-year-old Austrian's words and penned down their thoughts, expressing it to be a very obvious choice:
"Toto knows who the GOAT is," wrote one fan.
Here are more reactions from F1 fans online:
Max Verstappen stuns the F1 world with his pre-race 4 AM practice
The second race of the season- the Saudi Arabian GP, was hosted by the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and the Red Bulls came home with a consecutive 1-2 finish.
Max Verstappen scored his second consecutive win of the season and back-to-back tenth win since losing to Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, where the Dutchman finished P5.
The 50-lap race on the 6.174 km circuit was flagged off on Saturday, March 9, in the evening at 20.00 Track Time. However, before dominating the 27-turn asphalt, the Dutchman shocked the Formula 1 community with his sim racing stint during the early hours of the day, at 4 AM.
A video of Max's voiceover during the sim racing went viral, following which he opened up about the same, saying (via Independent):
“I stay on European or even UK schedule so I go to bed at like 4 am,” Verstappen said in his post-race press conference. "I wake up late. Also, I have my own sim team so naturally just catching up with them a bit. It’s just unwinding as well, I don’t have a rig here, I’m driving on my controller."
He added:
“It’s just fun not having to think about Formula 1 and just be with people that you know. Whenever I can, I do it. I woke up this morning and had an hour spare so just logged in and had a bit of fun.”
