{"id":583723,"date":"2026-04-05T11:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T11:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583723\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T11:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T11:53:12","slug":"how-wolffs-joke-about-verstappen-in-zandvoort-has-become-the-new-reality-in-f1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583723\/","title":{"rendered":"How Wolff\u2019s joke about Verstappen in Zandvoort has become the new reality in F1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every time Max\u00a0Verstappen<\/a> has spoken about F1’s new technical regulations, he immediately added one very important disclaimer: his opinion about the new\u00a0ruleset is separate from the competitive picture. \u201cYes, because if I were winning, I would still say exactly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

It means that the two elements must be viewed separately: the competitive picture and\u00a0Verstappen\u2019s dissatisfaction with the direction F1 has taken. And it also means that in essence two different solutions are required from his perspective. Red Bull needs to find a lot of performance, mainly on the chassis side \u2014 something team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged in Suzuka \u2014 while Verstappen is simultaneously waiting to see what adjustments the FIA will make.<\/p>\n

As far as the latter is concerned, the four-time world champion has already accepted that no fundamental changes will take place during the 2026 season. He expects little from this break and the major meeting scheduled for April 9.\u00a0Verstappen said he is speaking with the governing body behind the scenes about possible improvements, mainly in the hope that \u201cbigger things\u201d can be changed for 2027. The extent to which that does or does not happen seems crucial for his future decisions.<\/p>\n

Wolff already joked about the current situation in\u00a0Zandvoort<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Mercedes<\/a> team boss Toto Wolff shared the impression that both aspects are still connected to some extent. After the Chinese Grand\u00a0Prix, when asked about Verstappen\u2019s criticism, the Austrian noted that he is currently in a \u201chorror show\u201d with Red Bull’s new car.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, Max is really in a horror show. When you look at the onboard that he had in qualifying yesterday, that is just horrendous to drive,\u201d the Mercedes team boss said in Shanghai. \u201cAnd you can see that, but it\u2019s not the same with many other teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Toto <\/p>\n

Toto Wolff, Mercedes<\/p>\n

Photo by: Kym Illman \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

That same Wolff also responded to rather strange rumours in the Austrian press in the days after the Chinese Grand\u00a0Prix, which once again linked Verstappen with Mercedes \u2014 this time completely out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amazing thing is that these silly\u00a0rumors are already popping up in March. It\u2019s silly enough that we usually have to talk about this in July. I don\u2019t know who brought this up again,\u201d Wolff replied to OE24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two drivers with whom we have long-term, multi-year contracts. I couldn\u2019t be happier with the two of them. Both are delivering top-notch performances, so there\u2019s absolutely no reason to even consider a line-up change or other drivers. I say this with the utmost respect for Max.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although these rumours are unfounded and the timing in March is indeed rather laughable, Wolff\u2019s reaction is still interesting. His statements and Mercedes\u2019 current results underline exactly the risk\u00a0Verstappen took by deciding not to make the switch to the German manufacturer at the end of last year – something the Dutchman has called a ‘conscious decision’ himself ahead of the Hungarian Grand\u00a0Prix, regardless of the clauses in his contract.<\/p>\n

Wolff acknowledged several times last season that he had spoken with the\u00a0Verstappens \u2014 something he repeated once again in the Netflix series Drive to Survive \u2014 explaining that it was simply his duty as team principal to explore what a four-time world champion was planning.<\/p>\n

Verstappen ultimately decided to remain loyal to Red Bull. Given the political reality at the time \u2014 with the dismissal of Christian Horner and the promotion of Mekies, with whom Verstappen gets along well \u2014 that decision can be explained quite easily. Moreover, the idea was that the Dutchman could first see how the cards would fall under the new regulations, meaning that any potential switch would no longer be a gamble but an assessment based on the facts.<\/p>\n

However, the downside was frequently discussed in the paddock and has now in a way become reality: if Mercedes were to emerge as the dominant force under the new\u00a0ruleset, Wolff would no longer necessarily need Verstappen to bring the Brackley-based team back to winning ways.<\/p>\n

It is linked to negotiating positions and financial aspects: around mid-2025 the competitive picture under the new rules was still a question mark. Now it is clear that Mercedes can win with its current line-up as well, making it less necessary to pay enormous sums for a big name in the form of a multiple world champion.<\/p>\n

\"Toto <\/p>\n

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, speaks with Raymond Vermeulen, manager of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bloxham \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Incidentally, Wolff spoke about exactly this topic last year during an entertaining and widely referred to media session with the Dutch press in\u00a0Zandvoort:<\/p>\n

Question: So it might be a good thing then that Max stays at Red Bull now? You don’t have to pay him 100 million a year next year, and you can first see which team has the best car for 2027?<\/p>\n

Wolff: Hopefully us. And then I only need to pay 10%. And that’s exactly what I said to Raymond\u00a0Vermeulen.<\/p>\n

Question: And what did Raymond say?<\/p>\n

Wolff: Raymond said \u2018cheap Austrian\u2019, and then I said ‘greedy Dutch!’ [laughs]<\/p>\n

Although this was said with a smile \u2014 in line with the tone of that entire media session \u2014 it does reflect the current situation. Reports in Italian media suggesting that the door would therefore be completely closed for the foreseeable future seem somewhat premature and also too simplistic. For a four-time world champion with\u00a0Verstappen\u2019s stature, doors can always open.
However, the necessity for Mercedes to look around has clearly become much smaller than it was a year ago.<\/p>\n

First of all,\u00a0Kimi Antonelli is beginning to fulfil his promise as an absolute top talent, and secondly the car appears competitive enough to win all races of the season so far even without Verstappen behind the wheel. From Mercedes\u2019 perspective, the urgency of the flirtation that came out last summer has therefore diminished significantly.<\/p>\n

\"Max <\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes<\/p>\n

Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Question about \u2018life decisions\u2019 more important than anything else<\/p>\n

The very first step \u2014 and by far the most important one \u2014 remains that\u00a0Verstappen himself thinks about what he called \u201clife decisions\u201d<\/a> in Japan: in other words, deciding whether he wants to stay in F1 after this season. Everything else is secondary to that and will only come into play afterwards.<\/p>\n

The follow-up questions are linked to many other factors, things that cannot even be discussed in April and need a lot more time, such as Red Bull\u2019s development curve in solving its current issues and other developments on the driver market.<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s name will, as in every silly season, likely play a prominent role again if he decides to remain in F1 \u2014 especially if Red Bull does not manage to improve the RB22 quickly. However, the situation regarding Mercedes now looks different compared to roughly ten months ago.<\/p>\n

The door may not necessarily be completely closed, as suggested elsewhere \u2014 Wolff being able to offer\u00a0Verstappen a competitive car and thereby preventing him from walking away still sounds like an appealing narrative in a way \u2014 but the first question remains what Verstappen himself wants regarding his future. Everything else is secondary to that and therefore a matter for later.<\/p>\n

But as far as all those other aspects are concerned, Wolff\u2019s joke in\u00a0Zandvoort now appears somewhat prophetic. The \u2018cheap Austrian\u2019 that he was referred to currently seems to have all the facts on his side.<\/p>\n

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– The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every time Max\u00a0Verstappen has spoken about F1’s new technical regulations, he immediately added one very important disclaimer: his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,223208,1885,1881,2190,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-583723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-how-wolffu2019s-joke-about-verstappen-in-zandvoort-has-become-the-new-reality-in-f1","14":"tag-max-verstappen","15":"tag-mercedes","16":"tag-red-bull-racing","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}