Toto Wolff plots Max Verstappen move as he looks to lure Adrian Newey’s right-hand man Pierre Wache to Mercedes - Reports

Recent reports claim that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is trying to poach Adrian Newey's right-hand man at Red Bull, Pierre Wache, to lure Max Verstappen into his team.

After Christian Horner was accused of inappropriate behavior, by a female employee, and underwent an investigation by Red Bull GmBH, the Austrian team has been surrounded by a plethora of controversies.

Amid all the chaos, rumors of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull to join Mercedes emerged after his father Jos Verstappen publicly criticized Horner and met with Toto Wolff after the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP.

Following Horner's investigation, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also came under the radar, which triggered Verstappen to take sides with the Austrian and hint that he might leave the team if the 80-year-old departs.

Ever since rumors about the three-time world champion moving away from the Milton Keynes team emerged, Toto Wolff had been publicly luring the Dutchman. Since Lewis Hamilton would leave the Silver Arrows after 2024 to join Ferrari, the Brackley-based team would have an empty seat to fill.

According to a report by Formula Uno Analisi Technica, Mercedes was trying to take advantage of the internal turmoil at Red Bull to poach technical director Pierre Wache. The report also claims that Mercedes approaching Wache could be part of their efforts to lure Verstappen since the driver's entourage believes that the French engineer is more important than Adrian Newey.

On the other hand, several reports claim that Newey was being approached by Aston Martin and Ferrari.

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F1 pundit feels Max Verstappen is not a "realistic candidate" for Mercedes

F1 pundit Ben Anderson recently opined that Max Verstappen was not a realistic target for Mercedes, especially because of the team's recent woes.

While Verstappen was comfortably leading the world championship in the 2022 and 2023 F1 seasons with Red Bull, Mercedes struggled to close the gap to the top while trying to figure out their car concept. Hence, the F1 pundit stated that the Silver Arrows should look for drivers from lower teams or give their junior Kimi Antonelli a chance.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Anderson said:

"Realistically, the state that Mercedes are in now, Max is not a realistic candidate for them. They are more likely to be looking at drivers further down the grid who are looking for a sideways step or a step up, or take the punt on who Toto thinks is the new Max Verstappen, this Antonelli kid."

As of now, Max Verstappen remains with Red Bull and continues to lead the drivers' world championship table in 2024 with 51 points despite retiring from the Australian GP due to brake failure.