- Steiner suggests Antonelli’s promotion is Toto Wolff’s revenge for Verstappen.
- Mercedes boss treats both drivers equally as Russell provides experienced stability.
- Missed opportunities in 2014 influence Mercedes’ current recruitment and strategy.
Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner recently shared his stance on the battle unfolding between two Mercedes drivers, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. In addition, he suggested that Wolff’s decision to take in Antonelli at such a young age was a move that likely stemmed from losing Max Verstappen during his F1 debut.
Ex-F1 boss claims Antonelli move likely stemmed from Verstappen snub
In a conversation on the Drive to Wynn podcast, Steiner revealed that Wolff appears to be treating both his drivers equally. George, he believes he doesn’t have to manage a lot, given he’s experienced. “He’s very fair with them, because George came up through the Mercedes ranks, Kimi came up through the Mercedes ranks,” he added.
Steiner suggested that Wolff’s decision to take Antonelli at a young age, despite the objections he faced from people around, could be influenced by a sense of “revenge” after missing out on a young Verstappen. “With Kimi, Toto still thinks back when he didn’t get Verstappen at the time, and this is now a little bit of revenge for him, ‘I got the next superstar.” He also reiterated how it’s important for Wolff to see his team win and that he has no room for any bias.
Why Mercedes never got Verstappen?
When Verstappen was competing in European F3, he attracted the attention of top F1 teams, which included Mercedes and Red Bull. At the time, Mercedes was in a competitive place, with Hamilton freshly having won his 2014 championship.
While it was a perfect team for a young rookie like Verstappen to enter, Mercedes had no empty seats to offer him. Given that the Verstappens were in a hurry to get the Dutchman in F1, Mercedes lost out on him, and he signed with Red Bull, who had a place to offer him at Toro Rosso in 2015.
If Mercedes had the place to lock in Verstappen, we would have had him and Lewis Hamilton in the same team, which could have been iconic. However, according to Toto Wolff, they both wouldn’t have gotten together well. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen’s destiny played its card, as he had already achieved several records with Red Bull Racing and took away an eighth title from Hamilton during the 2021 season.
In the F1 community, there never goes a moment when Verstappen isn’t connected with Mercedes, even after years have passed. It mostly happens when things appear to be falling a bit apart for the Dutchman. With Red Bull’s current struggles under new regs, many have speculated on Verstappen’s potential move to a German team recently, too. However, these rumours were debunked by Wolff earlier.
