Ferrari have been urged to explore the possibility of snatching Max Verstappen from their Red Bull rivals by a close friend of the Dutchman.
Verstappen leads the drivers' championship by 46 points after just nine races of what is shaping up to be a stellar season for the Red Bull ace. He has overcome the fast start made by Charles Leclerc to put himself firmly in the best position for a successful title defence.
He has been helped to do so by reliability problems which have plagued Ferrari in recent weeks. Both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have suffered mechanical issues which have hampered their chances of success and left Red Bull to run riot at times.
Despite those issues, Tom Coronel believes Ferrari would be the better team for his friend Verstappen to represent. The World Touring Cars veteran told the RacingNews365 podcast that he believes the 24-year-old would "one hundred per cent" be even more successful if he raced for the Italian outfit.
"I've always said that," the 50-year-old Dutchman said. "What is Max's value? It's what Ferrari is willing to pay for it. That is in any case the reason why Red Bull has signed him for the long term, because then at least you know that you have the best driver in the house.
"If I were Ferrari, the director of Ferrari, I would now ask how much will it cost to buy Max away from Red Bull? Who says it can't be done? I've seen so many things happen with money! Then you see at once what Verstappen is worth. He is worth infinite – he is worth all Ferrari."
Verstappen signed a new deal with Red Bull over the winter which saw him join Lewis Hamilton as the sport's highest-paid racer in return for his services until 2028. In securing such a deal, Red Bull ensured that any interested rival would have to pay a huge fee to buy out his contract.
In any case, the Dutchman declared his desire to remain with Red Bull "forever" after winning the 2021 championship. "Our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it’s about keeping the number one on the car long-term," he said.
But Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko did reveal that there may be a way for Verstappen to get out of the deal should the team's performance decline. "Of course. If we experience a 'crash' like in 2014, when we had absolutely no chance against Mercedes on the engine side, then it's clear there is an escape clause," said the Austrian.
