F1 champion casts doubt over Max Verstappen to Mercedes move

1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has explained his reservations over a potential Max Verstappen switch to Mercedes.

Verstappen has been linked with a Mercedes move across the last 12 months, with the Brackley-based squad yet to tie down its drivers for next year.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has asserted he is simply doing his due diligence by assessing all options available, but suggested a final decision over its line-up will come around the summer break later this year.

With new technical regulations coming into play next season, there are many unknowns over how the pecking order could shape up.

Speaking to Viaplay, Villeneuve pointed to Lewis Hamilton's famous shock move to Mercedes as a tricky decision that worked in the driver's favour.

"That's a tough one,” Villeneuve said when asked about Verstappen's future. 

“Look at the moment when Lewis Hamilton announced he was moving from McLaren to Mercedes. 

“Everyone laughed at him because 'you're in the best car, so why are you leaving'? Later that turned out to be a great move."

It has been rumoured that Mercedes is entering the new era in a strong position, having also commenced the current turbo hybrid era with the best package in 2014.

Villeneuve, however, is unconvinced by the speculation.

“Max knows how things are going within Red Bull now, which is also the only thing he can know,” he said. “As for all these other teams, at best you can make an estimate of how it will be.

"A lot of people think 'new engines, new rules, and so Mercedes will take the lead, just like in 2014'. That doesn't mean it's going to be like that, but that plays in people's heads."

“All the teams have had a long time to work on that package and it seems that Mercedes is also starting to struggle a bit with their package.

“So I don't expect them to have as big an advantage as they did in 2014.”