Reports out of Germany last week claimed Verstappen was set to meet with Mercedes following the Miami Grand Prix about a potential move.
The three-time world champion is currently under contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of 2028; however, there are understood to be break clauses in that deal.
One of those concerns Helmut Marko’s role in the organisation, with suggestions that Austrian is on borrowed time at Milton Keynes.
Should Marko leave Red Bull, Verstappen’s path would also be cleared to exit.
To tempt Verstappen to Mercedes, F1-Insider and OE24 now claim he will be offered an eye-watering €150 million (AUD $245 million) a year.
Such a figure would be almost triple what seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is currently on and make him the highest-paid driver in F1 history.
F1-Insider also claims Mercedes would be open to offering Marko a role if it helped get Verstappen across the line.
In addition to a driving contract, it’s reported there is interest in offering Verstappen a long-term ambassadorial role with Mercedes that would keep him within the organisation beyond his racing career.
The 26-year-old has often questioned whether he would continue racing beyond the end of his current Red Bull Racing deal, which expires when he is just 31.
Mercedes is third owned by Toto Wolff, Daimler, and Ineos, the latter owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
“There are so many factors that play a role for a driver joining,” Wolff said of the prospect of luring Verstappen away from Red Bull Racing.
“Clearly, when you look at it from the most rational point of view, you can say: ‘That’s the quickest car in the hands of the quickest driver’.
“But I don’t think this is the only reason you stay where you are.
“I think, for simple minds, that might be the only reason why you stay in a car and that’s it but maybe there are more depths for some people that consider other factors too. I think that Max has that.
“In that respect, are we able to convince him? I don’t think it’s a matter of convincing.”
In its 2023 full-year accounts, the Mercedes F1 team posted over AUD $1 billion in revenue for a gross profit of AUD $257 million.
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