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A €150 million contract is what Mercedes is reportedly offering Max Verstappen in a bid to poach him from Red Bull. The Austrian team has been under siege from all corners since the start of the season. It began with team principal Christian Horner being investigated for inappropriate behavior.
Since then, it has become apparent that there's a power battle going on at Red Bull, with many key personnel starting to take sides. Max Verstappen was also one of them, as he openly sided with team consultant Helmut Marko. Things had settled down to an extent after the race in Jeddah as the team continued to gather together and form a united front.
It all started to disintegrate when reports came out suggesting that star designer Adrian Newey wanted to get away from Red Bull. The reports of the aero wizard leaving the team have only intensified, and there are a few who suggest that the announcement is imminent. Amidst all that, there have been reports of Max Verstappen being more than willing to look for a future away from the Austrian squad.
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In one of the recent reports from OE24, Mercedes has intensified its approach to lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull. The Austrian publication reports that the Toto Wolff-led brand is going all out for the Dutch driver and offering a whopping €150 million per year contract.
Teams would do handstands to have Max Verstappen: Toto Wolff
Earlier in the season, Toto Wolff was asked if he would want Max Verstappen at Mercedes as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton. The Austrian replied in the affirmative, even though he maintained that the German team first has to fix the car, which is just not competitive.
Claiming that any team would do handstands to have Verstappen in the team, he told Sportskeeda,
“First we need to sort out our car. I think we owe it to our drivers George (Russell) and Lewis to improve the car and give them equipment that is good before dreaming about the future next year.
"This is a decision that Max needs to take, and there is no team up and down the grid who wouldn’t do handstands to have him in the car.”
The future of where Max ends up and what happens to Red Bull is all in the air at the moment. The 2024 F1 season, though, has become far more engaging and entertaining off-track, with the on-track proceedings becoming more and more of an eventuality.
