Wolff has his heart set on bringing Verstappen to Brackley next season to replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, but with the Dutchman tied down to a long-term contract and Red Bull dominating the series on a weekly basis, the Mercedes team principal has been forced to get creative in courting the three-time world champion.
“There are so many factors that play a role for a driver joining,” he said in Shanghai. “Clearly when you look at it from the most rational point of view, you can say ‘That’s the quickest car in the hands of the quickest driver’. But I don’t think this is the only reason you stay where you are.
“I think for, let’s say simple minds, that might be the only reason why you stay in a car and that’s it but maybe there are more depths for some people that consider other factors too. I think that Max has that. In that respect, are we able to convince him? I don’t think it’s a matter of convincing.”
These comments did not go down well with Horner, who is extremely frustrated with Wolff’s persistent suggestions that the three-time world champion may not be wholly satisfied with the complete package on offer at Red Bull.
“I’ve got to think carefully about what I say here,” he hit back. “Have you spoken to Max about this? Because if you speak to Max – and certainly it’s not about pieces of paper at the end of the day, we know that he has a contract to the end of 2028 – it’s about how he feels in the team and the relationship he has in the team and the way he’s performing.
“I don’t think Toto’s problems are his drivers; I think he’s probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable.”
Horner didn’t stop there though, probing deeper into the Silver Arrows’ on-track struggles. “We’ve moved today ahead of the amount of races that Mercedes have won in the modern era,” he added.
“The team is in form, why on earth would you want to leave this team? Mercedes are the third team behind their customers at the moment so I would think his time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market.”
