Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has admitted he regrets not signing Max Verstappen when he had the chance
Mercedes missed out when they failed to match Red Bull’s offer of an immediate F1 seat to Verstappen, who was announced as Red Bull junior in August 2014.
Less than a year later, Verstappen went on to make his F1 debut with Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso at just 17 years of age. "I spoke to Jos and Huub Rothengatter [Jos Verstappen's manager during his F1 career] when they came to my office in Brackley and that must have been when Max was in karting or the end of his karting days [in 2013] just before Formula 3 [in 2014],” Wolff told ESPN.
"And then we spoke again when Max and Jos visited me in my house in Vienna. We spent a few hours discussing his future."We had two drivers that I was extremely happy with, in Nico and Lewis, and when Nico left [at the end of 2016], Valtteri [Bottas] was then the option and Max wasn't even available.”
Asked if he ever tried to approach Verstappen again following his move to Red Bull, Wolff said: ”After that we always had friendly contact but never discussing driving."
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