Consider that, first of all, McLaren has two very good young drivers that will notch their first win soon if car development gets there.

They do, but Norris is not Verstappen. Norris doesn’t even come close to Verstappen.

Secondly, the Arab countries that own McLaren have to come up with some heavy change for Max with the hope the car will get there. He’d have to have a multiple year contract with several outs.

That’s just the price you pay when you want the best driver on grid. It’s not like RBR is paying Max 40 mil a year to look pretty. They’re paying 40 mil a year because a) there’s no driver from his generation who could match him and b) you don’t want him going to your competitors because he’s that good.

Lastly, there’s max himself. He’d have to want to move back from the pointy end of the field and hope the car gets there while enjoying the money.

I thought that’s the assumption we’re going with. Realistically it’s not a question of what team would have Max, it’s a question of what team Max wants to go to. My entire argument is that no team would outright say “No” to Max, it’s Max who will say “No” to teams. Max decides where he wants to go and the teams will do whatever is in their power to fulfill Max’s wishes. The only exception I would see is Ferrari, but even there I’m certain Ferrari would at least sit down with Max to see if he would fit in with Hamilton.