Max Verstappen hinted that he wants Ferrari President John Elkann to call him, but not at all to discuss possible prospects for cooperation, but for a completely pragmatic reason.
The three-time world champion has a long-term contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, so Verstappen is unlikely to change teams in the next five years, although, of course, anything can happen in Formula 1. Moreover, if Max were to move to Ferrari in the foreseeable future, it would be in the strategic interests of the sport, since it would become a high-profile event and would attract general attention. However, now we are talking about something else.
“I would like to have in my personal collection the three cars that I won the championship with, but also the Ferrari F2004 that Michael Schumacher drove,” Max admitted in an interview with the Sunday supplement of Gazzetta dello Sport. – This is an incredible car, but I don’t know where to buy it.
Yes, this can be considered an appeal to John Elkann. I hope he reads this interview and calls me.”
The European press, commenting on these words of Verstappen, most likely spoken with a humorous intonation, is ready to see in them something more than a desire to replenish his garage with a unique racing car, which in 2004 allowed Schumacher to win 13 victories and become world champion for the seventh time. Maybe this is a kind of declaration of future intentions, because almost all the great champions wanted to compete for the Scuderia, but not everyone was able to fulfill this desire.
Ayrton Senna never wore the red uniform of the Maranello team, but he negotiated with Ferrari, and this is a historical fact. Lewis Hamilton has no plans to leave Mercedes, but admitted that he recently had dinner with John Elkann, and it remains to be seen what they talked about.
As for Max, he already has a couple of Ferrari sports cars: first he purchased a Monza SP2 with a rare speedster body styled in the 50s, prices for which start at 1.58 million euros, and last winter an SF90 appeared in his garage Stradale with a hybrid powertrain developing up to 1000 hp.
Whether John Elkann calls Max Verstappen or not, we may never know. But it is reliably known that Sebastian Vettel also dreamed of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2004, but once admitted in an interview that it was too expensive for him. Moreover, unlike Max, he competed for the Scuderia, so he could probably count on a special discount.
2023-10-16 16:57:00
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