TOTO AFTER MAX Red Bull

Wolff hunts Red Bull ace to replace Lewis

-  JACK MCEACHEN

MERCEDES team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is his No.1 target to replace Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton will leave Mercedes for Ferrari after this year.

The Silver Arrows have a number of options they are considering but Wolff admits Verstappen is their dream replacement.

Wolff previously claimed that he, and any other team principal, would do "handstands" to sign the defending world champion.

And he has now insisted that the Dutchman's move to Mercedes "needs to happen" in the future.