What Ralf Schumacher ‘heard’ about Toto Wolff’s lowball offer to Max Verstappen

Toto Wolff has made Max Verstappen an offer to join Mercedes but “intentionally” lowballed the Dutchman as he already has his star for the future in Kimi Antonelli, claims Ralf Schumacher.

Verstappen’s Formula 1 future continues to be one of the big topics in the sport as the 28-year-old contemplates whether he even wants to continue in Formula 1, and if so, with Red Bull or with Mercedes.

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Verstappen was in Austria in the build-up to the Spanish Grand Prix, where he met with Red Bull’s leadership.

The four-time world champion wouldn’t be drawn on it when asked about the context of the meeting by PlanetF1’s Thomas Maher.

“If there is anything new about what I’m doing, I will let you know,” he said.

Although Verstappen has two years remaining on his long-term Red Bull deal, his future remains uncertain – at least from the outside – as Mercedes reportedly has not given up on signing Verstappen.

So much so, former F1 driver Schumacher claims that Mercedes team principal Wolff recently put an offer on the table.

“At Mercedes,” Schumacher told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, “you hear that Wolff has made him an offer behind the scenes.”

But according to the German, Wolff lowballed Verstappen, who currently earns between $65 million and $70 million per year in base salary alone from Red Bull Racing.

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For Schumacher, though, that makes sense, as while Wolff may want Verstappen to join Mercedes, it’s not a case of at any price, given that the Austrian has a future world champion in the ranks in Kimi Antonelli.

“But,” continued Schumacher, “that offer was apparently so bad financially that it’s not an option anyway.

“That’s apparently what’s going on behind the scenes right now.

“I think that’s intentional, because again, I’ve said it before, why would Toto Wolff, if everything goes as planned, get an expensive Max Verstappen alongside Kimi Antonelli, the future superstar?”

But while Mercedes may not be sold on its need to have Verstappen in the car, Schumacher claims Red Bull is and offered the driver a four-year extension.

Verstappen, he says, turned it down.

“I’ve heard they were desperate for Max to sign a contract until 2032,” he claims. “Max apparently refused and said, ‘Well, I don’t need that right now; I’m on contract until 2028 anyway, so I’d rather wait and see.'”

The speculation about Verstappen’s Formula 1 future is likely to rumble on for weeks, if not months.

Last year he put an end to that season’s rumours at the Hungarian Grand Prix, finally deciding enough was enough.

“I think it’s time to stop all the rumours now,” he declared. “It was pretty entertaining to see all the nice stories over the last few months.

“I have never said anything myself because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we could improve the performance.”

This year he has even more reason to focus on the team and improving the RB22 with Red Bull arguably only the fourth best team on the grid behind Mercedes, Ferrari and potentially even McLaren.

Verstappen has secured a solitary podium in the opening seven grands prix and is seventh in the Drivers’ standings on 55 points, 101 behind championship leader Antonelli.

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