Raymond Vermeulen, Verstappen’s representative, speaks out about McLaren
This Friday, in full celebration of the home Grand Prix for Red Bull, in Austria, the ‘Daily Mail’ surprised with bombshell news: supposed secret conversations already started between Max Verstappen and his environment with McLaren and its CEO, Zak Brown, in view of a possible signing of the four-time F1 champion for the orange team.
And even more representative was that, a few hours later, the newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’, close to the Verstappen family, spread that rumor. However, a day later, the driver’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, flatly denied having spoken with McLaren in statements to the German newspaper ‘Bild’.
The representative of the considered best driver on the F1 gridnow with a car that does not allow him to fight for wins, made it very clear that before making any move they must wait to see if Red Bull reacts and can improve their car for the future to be able to do what Max wants: stay at Red Bull.
“There is no truth in that. There have been no negotiations”Vermeulen flatly expressed, in the same line as McLaren, who also denied this information.
First we will wait to see how the car evolves in the coming weeks. we want to stay at Red Bull, but with a car capable of winning
“As we have already said, first we will wait to see how the car evolves in the coming weeks. In any case, we want to stay at Red Bull, but with a car capable of winning”let. In that ‘but’ is the key.
Max wants to fulfill his contract with Red Bull, but if the Milton Keynes team does not show Max that their project can really be a race winner this year and that it will allow Max to fight for the 2027 title, the Dutchman could look for another place to chase his 5th title. Austria can be key in that aspect. Red Bull came with a very evolved car with which they wanted to take a big step forward to get closer to those at the top, although aware that they would still need more evolutions to catch up with the Mercedes. A step in the right direction could be crucial for Max to continue trusting the team.
However, in this whole situation, We must remind the reader that denials in F1 are common among the teams and the protagonists.but it happens in many cases that denied information ends up becoming true later, so this case will have to be followed very closely.
Wolff also denies that he wants it
In addition, the other great candidate to take over the services of Max Verstappen, Mercedes, also denied that they are considering his incorporation. This was stated by his boss, Toto Wolff on ‘Sky Sports’.
“Max Verstappen is not on our radar. We do not want to change the current situation. We also told George (Russell). I think George and Kimi (Antonelli) are a good duo for us. I am very satisfied with both,” said the Austrian, who in recent years pursued the signing of the Dutchman without luck.
