Mercedes extended a low offer to Verstappen, according to Schumacher.

      Ralf Schumacher thinks that Toto Wolff has already reached out to Max Verstappen, but not with a serious effort to entice the Dutch driver away from Red Bull. Speculation surrounding Verstappen’s future has been escalating, especially given Red Bull’s difficulties and the uncertainty regarding whether the four-time world champion will invoke performance-based exit clauses in his contract. Schumacher now asserts that Mercedes has indeed approached Verstappen with an offer.

      "At Mercedes, we've heard that Toto Wolff made him an offer - behind the scenes," the former Formula 1 racer stated to Sky Deutschland. "However, it appears the offer was so financially poor that it’s completely out of the question." When questioned if he was talking about discussions that took place before the season began, Schumacher indicated that the timing was more recent. "No, no, no - but it doesn’t matter," he remarked.

      The German believes that the nature of the alleged offer reveals Wolff’s real intentions. "I've mentioned this before - why would Toto Wolff, if everything is going as expected, want an expensive Max Verstappen alongside Kimi Antonelli, the future star?"

      These remarks come as Schumacher argues that the hierarchy at Mercedes has fundamentally changed. Although Antonelli’s streak of five consecutive wins ended in Barcelona due to a power unit issue, he comfortably passed teammate George Russell before retiring from the race. For Schumacher, this settled the discussion. "Kimi has proven that he is faster," he stated. "Kimi is the number 1 at Mercedes. George has to take a back seat."

      Wolff’s comments following the Spanish Grand Prix have only reinforced this interpretation, as fans also noticed his cool demeanor towards Russell. After Antonelli's retirement, Wolff expressed regret for not implementing team orders earlier when Russell was leading. "We likely lost five or six seconds while they were battling," he said. "That’s something we’ll need to address for the upcoming races when a new competitor shows up," referring to Lewis Hamilton’s recent Ferrari victory.

      Schumacher contends that this is exactly why bringing in Verstappen as a teammate to Antonelli would not be a sensible move. "Then you’d definitely have two drivers in the team going up against each other," he noted. "He knows that dynamic well from the Rosberg and Hamilton period. It’s like a headache. And above all, it puts Kimi at risk. So that makes absolutely no sense."