As Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda considered bringing rising star Max

How Mercedes Let Max Verstappen Slip Away

13/01/2025

Gerhard Berger unveils how Mercedes F1 missed signing Max Verstappen, with Wolff and Lauda hesitating at a crucial moment.

As Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda considered bringing rising star Max Verstappen to Mercedes, Helmut Marko swooped in to take him.

This revelation came from Gerhard Berger, the former F1 driver and close associate of Red Bull.

He claims Mercedes missed an initial opportunity to have the Dutchman in their academy, ultimately losing out to Red Bull, who secured Verstappen’s entry into F1 with Toro Rosso.

“It was clear that Max was special. One day, I told Niki Lauda: ‘You should take Max Verstappen.’ He replied: ‘Who? Jos’s son? Do you think he’s good?’ I answered: ‘He’s not good; he’s exceptional.’”

“Niki, who was already a consultant at Mercedes, immediately called Toto Wolff: ‘We absolutely need to take Verstappen!’ But Toto responded hesitantly: ‘Why should we? We have Valtteri Bottas and so many good drivers in our academy.’”

“They discussed it for a while, and I know it came up again in the following weeks. Then, nothing happened for a few months when they could have brought him into their academy.”

“Then, as the story goes, Max won F3, and the topic resurfaced with Jos and Max looking for an F1 seat. Helmut Marko stepped in and secured Max with the promise of a quick path to F1.”

Speaking of Lauda, Berger also shared a thought on the Red Bull driver.

“Do you know why he reminds me a bit of Niki Lauda? He’s not the type to be influenced by his surroundings. He’s very analytical.”

“Moreover, he can admit when he’s wrong. An interesting personality.”

Berger Reveals How Mercedes F1 Lost Rising Star Verstappen

Berger Reveals How Mercedes F1 Lost Rising Star Verstappen Berger Reveals How Mercedes F1 Lost Rising Star Verstappen

Full 2025 F1 testing results

Carlos Sainz
1
CARLOS
SAINZ
Leader
Lewis Hamilton
2
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+0.031s
Charles Leclerc
3
CHARLES
LECLERC
+0.083s
George Russell
4
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+0.197s
Max Verstappen
5
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.218s
Alex Albon
6
ALEX
ALBON
+0.302s
Kimi Antonelli
7
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+0.436s
Oscar Piastri
8
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+0.592s
Pierre Gasly
9
PIERRE
GASLY
+0.692s
Lance Stroll
10
LANCE
STROLL
+0.881s
Liam Lawson
11
LIAM
LAWSON
+0.904s
Jack Doohan
12
JACK
DOOHAN
+1.020s
Yuki Tsunoda
13
YUKI
TSUNODA
+1.149s
Isack Hadjar
14
ISACK
HADJAR
+1.327s
Fernando Alonso
15
FERNANDO
ALONSO
+1.352s
Esteban Ocon
16
ESTEBAN
OCON
+1.380s
Lando Norris
17
LANDO
NORRIS
+1.534s
Gabriel Bortoleto
18
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
+1.709s
Nico Hulkenberg
19
NICO
HULKENBERG
+2.109s
Oliver Bearman
20
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+3.013s

Testing Total Distance Covered by Team

1
Mercedes
458
2
Haas
457
3
Racing Bulls
454
4
Alpine
405
5
Williams
395
6
Ferrari
382
7
McLaren
381
8
Sauber
354
9
Aston Martin
306
10
Red Bull
304
Race Center
Australia Flag
Australian GP
13 Mar - 16 Mar
FP1
14 MAR 01:30
FP2
14 MAR 05:00
FP3
15 MAR 01:30
QU
15 MAR 05:00
RACE
16 MAR 04:00
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Australian Flag
Australian
Albert Park
16 Mar
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
Go toTop