Formula 1: Toto Wolff Speaks on How Mercedes Missed Out on Signing Max Verstappen

• Max Verstappen has grown to become Formula 1's most dominant driver in recent years
• The Red Bull driver is on course for his third consecutive drivers' championship
• Mercedes chief, Toto Wolff has revealed how the Brackley-based team missed out on signing the Dutch driver

Max Verstappen broke onto the Formula 1 scene in 2015 as the sport's youngest-ever driver with Red Bull’s B team Torro Rosso.

The then 17-year-old Dutch driver had a less conventional route to the pinnacle of motorsport, having secured himself an F1 seat without going through the GP3 and GP2 ranks.

Having had only one season of car racing, Verstappen had done enough to catch the eyes of many racing teams in F1, and Mercedes Chief Toto Wolff recently revealed how the German constructor passed up the chance to sign the then-racing rookie.

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Mercedes chief on Verstappen's signing

Wolff revealed that Mercedes had kept close tabs on the progress of Verstappen during his Karting days, but sadly couldn't offer the young driver a racing seat due to the championship battle being witnessed between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

"Max was very good in karting, was good in F3, and it was clear that there’s a big one that’s growing," he said.

Wolff told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast when asked if he could have signed the now-double World Champion in the past.

"And we talked to them in the initial phases, and it was a nice discussion with Jos and with Max involved as well.

"But it was clear that we couldn’t give him a seat because we had Nico and we had Lewis and we offered the support in F2, but since Red Bull was able to offer them the AlphaTauri seat, or Toro Rosso back in the day, it got Max into the seat."

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In quite a surprising turn of events, Mercedes driver Rosberg would announce his retirement after pipping Hamilton to the drivers' championship in 2016 - a year after the team had passed up the opportunity to sign Verstappen.

The Brackley-based team eventually settled for the signing of William racing driver Valtteri Bottas, who would go on to partner Hamilton for the next five seasons.

While Mercedes may have missed out on the chance of signing Verstappen, the German team have tied down current driver Hamilton, alongside George Russell, to a further two-year contract, according to reports from Motorsport.com.

McLaren CEO on Verstappen’s dominance

In a previous article, Sports Brief reported on Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, discussing Red Bull’s dominance of the sport by Max Verstappen.

The 55-year-old did not hold back his displeasure with the effectiveness of the Milton Keynes team, but believes the other teams can still catch up.

Brown has seen his McLaren team rise through the ranks to become one of the teams to beat this season and wants to match the pace of the RB19.