'Future star at Mercedes already known and his name is not Max Verstappen'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes' contract saga continues to rumble. Last week the biggest rumour was that Hamilton wants a clause in his contract to keep Max Verstappen out of the team.
According to Franco Nugnes, journalist for the Italian branch of Motorsport.com, this is absolute nonsense. "The Verstappen clause does not exist, it is pure fantasy. Lewis Hamilton does not have the power at Mercedes to demand an 'easy' teammate."
"The reason? It is very simple. The future star is already known and his name is George Russell and not Max Verstappen," said Nugnes, who argues that Russell has made his mark with his one-off appearance in Bahrain such that Mercedes would prefer to continue with him in the future.
Wolff vs. Kallenius
The possible arrival of Verstappen was always a project of Toto Wolff, continued Nugnes. However, the new CEO of Mercedes, Ola Kalleniuns, would be prefer to see Russell and gives Wolff less freedom to do what he wants than his predecessor.