Key keywords: Guenther Steiner, Max Verstappen, Mercedes F1 transfer, Red Bull Racing, Lewis Hamilton Ferrari move, 2025 F1 driver lineup, Verstappen Mercedes regret, F1 driver contract, Formula 1 free agency Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has sparked widespread debate across the Formula 1 paddock with his recent explosive claim that three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen privately regrets turning down a landmark contract offer from Mercedes shortly after Lewis Hamilton announced his shock move to Ferrari for the 2025 season. When Hamilton’s Ferrari signing was confirmed in February 2024, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff immediately reached out to Verstappen’s management to gauge his interest in stepping into Hamilton’s seat as the new leader of the Silver Arrows. Multiple insider reports confirmed the offer included a record €70 million annual base salary, performance bonuses tied to championship wins, and a 5% cut of team merchandise revenue, a package that would have made Verstappen the highest-paid athlete in motorsport history. At the time, Verstappen publicly rejected the offer within 48 hours, citing unwavering loyalty to Red Bull, the team that supported his rise from junior racing to three consecutive world titles between 2021 and 2023, and his comfort with the team’s dominant engineering setup. However, speaking on his popular *WTF1* podcast earlier this week, Steiner argued that Verstappen’s public dismissal of the offer masks private disappointment as Red Bull’s once-unassailable performance edge has faded dramatically over the 2024 season. “Max is a competitor through and through, first and last,” Steiner said during the episode. “Right now he’s driving a Red Bull that’s fighting for P2 most weekends, while Mercedes has sorted their chassis and powertrain issues and is looking like clear title favorites for 2025 and beyond. He had the chance to replace Lewis Hamilton, build a legacy at the most successful team in F1 history, and get paid more than any driver ever has, and he turned it down. I’ve spoken to people close to his inner circle, and he’s definitely second-guessing that call. The problem is, it’s simply too late now.” Steiner went on to note that Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs through the end of the 2028 season with no early exit clauses, meaning he will not be eligible to entertain a move to Mercedes until 2029 at the earliest, when he will be 31 years old and Mercedes will likely have locked in a long-term pairing of George Russell and junior prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Red Bull principal Christian Horner has dismissed Steiner’s claims as “unfounded attention-seeking”, telling reporters ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that Verstappen is “fully committed to Red Bull and has never expressed any regret over his contract decision.”