Aston Martin name-dropping Verstappen?

The British press says Aston Martin has told potential sponsors that they will lure Max Verstappen away from Red Bull with a £1billion deal that would be one of the biggest deals in Formula 1 history.

The Daily Mail Ran a story saying:

“Mail Sport has been told that Jefferson Slack, a close lieutenant of Aston Martin’s Canadian billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll, has recently made pitches to potential investors claiming that the 27-year-old Dutchman will be joining them. That is a firm desire rather than a certain fact, for now.”

Max currently makes £50m a year but there is little doubt that many F1 team bosses would be interested in his talents and would pay handsomely for the pleasure. Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin lured Red Bull designer Adrian Newey away from the team for a cool £20million a year and it’s clear the Canadian wants to win the championship at all costs…literally.

A billion Pound deal would be a significant uptick in driver salary records and depending on the length of that contract, this could be far north of what any driver has made in the history of the sport. To be fair to Max, he is in a place of naming his price these days.

For me, it’s a good move to get Newey and start with the car. Last year’s car was a step backwards and they need to get the car sorted out so it is capable of podiums consistently and then wins. They have Fernando Alonso who will deliver if the car is capable. Having Max may be a cut above that but right now, the car has no interest in winning titles.

It might be better to wait until they feel the car is ready to win races and podiums before signing Max at such a pricey deal. They still need to find balance and calm consistency within the team and with the demotion of Mike Krack as team boss this past week, things are still not on solid ground within the team’s structure.

I think Max would be a big catch but is the juice worth the squeeze at this point? I’d say they may look to George Russell as the interim move as they improve the car to podium performances.

Regardless, Aston Martin was quick to deny rumors and reminded us all that Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso have contracts through next year.