13 June 2023 , 07:50
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff passed up on the offer to sign Max Verstappen earlier in his career, admitting with hindsight that it is a regret.
The Austrian has overseen a period of dominance in charge of the Silver Arrows, presiding over seven straight drivers titles and eight constructors championships on the spin. Now though Mercedes are no longer setting the pace with Red Bull and Verstappen the class of the field.
They, by some margin, have the quickest package on track as fears mount they could win every race this season. Verstappen is ideally placed to claim a third successive title and is well on his way to being regarded as one of the greats of the sport.
He has been with the Red Bull family throughout his Formula 1 career, but things could've been different had Wolff taken a punt on the young Dutchman when he had the chance.
He told ESPN: "I spoke to Jos and Huub 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 just before Formula 3 [in 2014]. And then we spoke again when Max and Jos visited me at my house in Vienna. We spent a few hours discussing his future."
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Ultimately no agreement was found, but the Mercedes boss concedes it was never feasible: "Do I regret missing out on Max? Certainly. But it wasn't an option back in the day. We had two drivers that I was extremely happy with, Nico and Lewis, and when Nico left [at the end of 2016], Valtteri [Bottas] was then the option and Max wasn't even available."
The Dutchman has gone on to dominate Formula 1 in recent years (Getty Images)Mercedes signed Bottas in 2016, days after Rosberg decided to call it quits after winning his first and only world championship. At that point, Verstappen was very much a rising star, albeit his talent was raw. Red Bull knew of his potential and made every effort to keep him, forcing Wolff to look elsewhere.
The Mercedes boss also took the decision to gamble early on Esteban Ocon, now with Alpine, who was highly rated as a junior. He and Verstappen came through at around the same age and there was little between the pair - which meant it was impossible to tell that the Dutchman would go on to become what he has.
He added: "Back in the day there wasn't huge hype around Max, because Max and Van Amersfoort weren't winning the championship that year. Esteban won in a more competitive car. So the insiders knew that Max probably was in an inferior package in his first year, and the insiders knew there was a very good one coming, but it wasn't clear that he was that good at that stage.
"You can only say when someone grows in F1 and matures that he is a true world champion - an outstanding one. Before we had Lewis and then Michael Schumacher and before that [Ayrton] Senna. Who is the next one? Was it clear that Max would step into these shoes? It wasn't clear back then."