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Verstappen in a luxury position: A billion? Maybe there's more in it
- Ludo van Denderen
Of course it is a rumour, as new rumours surface every day in Formula 1: Aston Martin itself is said to have leaked that it has £1 billion left to hijack Max Verstappen away. Why would that have been done? Leaking a story is an ideal way to gauge how a message falls and how Verstappen reacts to it.
In politics, it happens quite often. Through the grapevine, minister X leaks that he intends to take a certain measure, although he himself will vehemently deny any such intention. The minister and his officials then closely monitor how public opinion reacts to the issue.
Is it positive? Then there is support and the idea can actually be presented in parliament. Is there no or perhaps little enthusiasm? Then the idea disappears into a drawer at the ministry, never to come out again.
Aston Martin's tactics?
It happens in politics, but certainly also in sport - like Formula 1. By leaking a report about Max Verstappen, Aston Martin's sponsors know that something is going on, without knowing about it. How do they react to this? And what is the fans' reaction, do they like the combination of Verstappen and Aston Martin? No doubt the people at Aston Martin have been scouring social media posts recently to find out.
Still, Aston Martin will have been especially eager to see how the Verstappen camp reacted, because the team also knows that there is always some medium that inquires. GPblog, for instance, did just that and this site heard a positive response, saying, "That's nice." In short, the Verstappens are not at all dismissive of a transfer of the four-time champion to the ambitious team beforehand.
For their part, the Verstappens know that Aston Martin is willing to go very far to tie Verstappen down. And if £1 billion is already up for grabs, perhaps there is more in the pipeline? After all, the Verstappens too realise that Aston Martin has never immediately shown their full hand.
The Verstappen camp is sitting back, since they know that there is a party with a huge pile of money to spare for Max, which gives them a strong negotiating position towards Red Bull Racing and any other teams angling for the Dutchman's services.
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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