Red Bull fear Mercedes want Max Verstappen to replace Lewis Hamilton

F1: Red Bull's Verstappen gets in shape for new season

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Red Bull chief Christian Horner believes Mercedes have Max Verstappen at the very top of their shortlist of drivers who could replace Lewis Hamilton – even higher than Williams ace George Russell.

Hamilton’s recent contract drama only recently came to an end as he penned an extension until the end of the year.

The Brit will then assess his future and decide whether he wants to continue driving at all.

If he is to move on then Toto Wolff will have a number of options at his disposal, including making a move for Russell, who impressed when he stepped in for Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix last year.

But Horner reckons his Mercedes counterpart would first try to tempt Verstappen into making a move.

“I am sure should Lewis decide to stop then Max will naturally be the driver at the top of Mercedes’ list,” Horner said. “They also have George Russell and other drivers available to them.”

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Verstappen has a clause that will allow him to leave Red Bull should he finish outside of the top three in the Drivers’ Championship.

“The reality is, that yes of course – as there has always been – an element of performance-related clauses to Max’s contract,” he added.

“But as with all these things, it is not about forcing a driver that doesn’t want to be there.

“It is more about relationships than contracts, and you only pull a contract out of the drawer when you have got a problem in my experience.

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“The relationship with Max is very strong, he believes in the project, in what we are doing, and he sees the investment Red Bull is making.

“I am confident we won’t need to refer to any contractual clauses. It will be down to us to deliver a competitive car.”

Even though there is a possibility of Verstappen being allowed to walk away from Red Bull for free, Horner thinks his team will be able to take the battle to Mercedes this year.

“We demonstrated at Abu Dhabi that Mercedes are beatable at a track they have been unbeaten at for the past six or seven years,” he explained.

“We just need to be able to do that across the season. We are gathering momentum.

“Nobody has a crystal ball so we just need to do the best job we can.”

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