Lawrence Stroll prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to sign 26-year-old ‘number one’ Aston Martin target

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Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll is reportedly ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ to bring three-time world champion Max Verstappen to the team.

There’s been a lot of recent speculation about the 26-year-old’s future, with Mercedes considering him the ‘hottest candidate’ to replace Lewis Hamilton.

A report from Motorsport.com suggests that Toto Wolff might have competition from one of his rivals to bring in the most exciting driver on the grid right now.

Lawrence Stroll wants Max Verstappen at Aston Martin

The 2024 driver market’s first move happened before the season even started when Lewis Hamilton announced his dramatic move to Ferrari.

It unexpectedly opened up a top seat on the grid that several drivers have already been linked to.

However, all is not well at Red Bull either which has led to Max Verstappen’s future being questioned.

His relationship with the team is directly linked to Helmut Marko’s, so much so that if the veteran Austrian leaves, he can reportedly break his contract.

Verstappen’s potential availability has plenty of teams on red alert including Aston Martin and their chief Lawrence Stroll.

After taking over the team as Racing Point, Stroll has built the team up by bringing in top executives behind the scenes.

They also managed to attract former world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

However, the Spaniard is being very coy about his future and if he leaves before the start of the 2025 season, then Verstappen would be an incredible upgrade.

Uncertainty over Verstappen future creates more interest

The report suggests that the 26-year-old is now the ‘number one’ option for the Silverstone-based team.

Lawrence Stroll is said to be prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to bring Verstappen to Aston Martin with the financial side of any deal unlikely to be an issue.

F1 drivers’ salaries aren’t included in the cost cap – as Alonso joked with Russell about earlier in the season – meaning if Stroll is willing to pay Verstappen whatever he wants, then that won’t affect the team’s overall development.

Aston Martin become the works team for Honda engines in 2026 with Red Bull set to start work with Ford on their power units.

If Verstappen has concerns about how successful that project will be, then moving to a new team might not seem so ridiculous.

While Aston Martin are on an upward trajectory at the moment, Mercedes still seems like the best bet for the Dutchman if he wants to continue racing at the front of the grid away from Red Bull.