Mario Andretti says he knows “for sure” that Aston Martin would like to sign Max Verstappen after a report claimed there’s a £1 billion deal on the table.
After dedicating a large portion of the 2024 F1 season to fending off rumors that he was about to leave Red Bull for Mercedes, 2025 is in the same 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 that Slack told potential investors that the 27-year-old will join Aston Martin as part of a £1bn deal with his salary, and will offer to “name your price”.
An anonymous source was quoted as saying: “Jefferson, or Jeff as he is known to others, said Max was going to sign up for Aston Martin. This could be a ploy that adds extra cost to the deal he wants to make, but bringing Max in also makes a lot of sense.
Aston Martin had PlanetF1. com “categorically denied” this information.
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But although the source admits that it can only be a ploy, the 1978 F1 world champion, Andretti, says he can say “with certainty. “
“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 does not Adrian Newey and Max Verstappen on their team? I would give my right arm to have them on my team, so I perceive 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 rent it in the blink of an eye if I could,” he insisted. “I painted with the boy, so I know him well, and I know how talented he has. I had the opportunity to paint with many other people in my career, and he is far away that I have painted. They have received effects together.
“If you communicate about Adrian himself, I would dare to put my destiny as a motive force in his hands, and I would feel a lot of trust with him through my side. I did not forget as a motive force, when I communicate to him, he understood exactly what I meant. I was actually on the same page as you. He tried to locate the candy 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 talked to him,” he revealed, “I knew he understood precisely what I meant. With some engineers, I can see my words bounce back in their heads, they sense 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 force of motive a quick advantage, just through his presence. You can see how much I appreciate his talent,” Andretti laughs. “It is unique in that sense. It not only makes the car fast, but also provides confidence to the driving force, while speaking the language of the driving forces.
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