Having spent much of the F1 2024 season fending off rumours that he’s on the verge of leaving Red Bull for Mercedes, 2025 has begun in a similar vein for Verstappen but this time it’s Aston Martin.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, Aston Martin’s managing director of commercial and marketing Jefferson Slack has been wooing potential sponsors by claiming four-time F1 World Champion Verstappen is set to join the team.
The publication states Slack has been telling potential investors that the 27-year-old will join Aston Martin in a £1 billion deal with his salary a ‘name your price’ offer.
An unnamed source is quoted as saying, “Jefferson, or Jeff as others know him, has been going around saying that Max is going to be joining Aston Martin. It may be a ploy, adding extra value to the deal he wants to do, but bringing Max in also makes perfect sense.”
Aston Martin told PlanetF1.com that they “categorically denied” the report.
But while the source admits it could be a ploy, 1978 F1 World Champion Andretti says he can say it “for sure”.
“I know for sure that they would like to have Verstappen,” Andretti told F1Maximaal.
“Let’s be honest, if you surround yourself with individuals who have proven themselves and shown that they are the best, then you almost have a guarantee that you are going to get results.
“Let’s be honest: who wouldn’t want Adrian Newey and Max Verstappen in their team? I would give my right arm to have them in my team, so I understand Aston Martin.”
But if you gave the new Cadillac director a choice of the one person he’d sign above all others, it’s Newey.
“I would hire him in a heartbeat if I could,” he insisted. “I’ve worked with the guy, so I know him well, and I know how talented he is.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of people in my career, and he’s by far the best I’ve ever worked with. We’ve gotten results together.
“If you talk about Adrian himself, I would always dare to put my fate as a driver in his hands, and I would feel a lot of trust with him at my side.
I remember as a driver, that when I spoke to him, he understood exactly what I meant. He was really on the same page with you. He tried to find that sweet spot with the car, and looked at the details.”
Newey worked with Andretti as his race engineer in 1987 at Newman/Haas in the Indy Car World Series
“When you spoke to him,” he revealed, “I knew he understood exactly what I wanted to say. With some engineers, I could just see my words bouncing off their heads, instead of them understanding the driver.
“With Adrian, I never had to say much because he always understood the dynamics perfectly: the chassis, the aerodynamics, and especially the balance. As I said, he could make very sudden changes based on the temperature or the sun, and it worked out perfectly.’
“Adrian would give a driver an immediate advantage, just by his presence. You can see how much I appreciate his talent,” Andretti laughs.
“He is really unique in that respect. He not only makes the car fast, but he also gives a driver confidence, because he speaks the language of the drivers.”
