MANCHESTER UNITED minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has joined the search for Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes replacement.

Seven-time Formula One world champion Hamilton is leaving the team to join Ferrari next season.

Mercedes have struggled to produce a car capable of winning races in the last two seasons, with their struggles this year making it look like it could be a third year on the bounce that Hamilton is unable to take a win.

However, the Silver Arrows are looking to take advantage of the chaos surrounding Red Bull by poaching star driver Max Verstappen.

SunSport reported earlier this week that the team were preparing to hold a meeting with Verstappen's team; father Jos and manager Raymond Vermeulen after the Miami Grand Prix.

That meeting will include team boss Toto Wolff, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius, and Ineos and Man Utd shareholder, Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe's Ineos became a one-third shareholder in the F1 team back in 2020 while retaining its position as the teams principal partner.

Verstappen's camp are assessing their options following a fallout with Red Bull boss Christian Horner, with Jos warning Horner's leadership was tearing the team apart.

The three-time world champion has a contract until 2028 on £40million-a-year.

It means Mercedes could be forced to stump up compensation for Verstappen, who is on course to win his fourth straight title this season.

Horner's position at the team has grown more precarious after Ferrari-linked Adrian Newey announced he was leaving the team earlier this week.

Mercedes look set to offer the Dutchman a whopping £128MILLION-a-year deal to convince him of the switch.

At Man Utd, Ineos have a 27.7 per cent share of the club but have almost complete control over the sporting operations of the team.

This has led to some major changes already, with Omar Berrada starting as CEO in July, Dan Ashworth coming in as football director and Jason Wilcox already starting a role as technical director.

The Hamilton replacement hunt comes with a huge summer ahead for Man Utd as well, with all-bar a few select players said to be up for sale.

A decision will also need to be made on Erik ten Hag's future as manager of the men's senior team.

But more recently he has made no secret of Mercedes' desire to land Verstappen as their Hamilton replacement.

Verstappen won the weekend's Sprint Race and is aiming for his fourth full race win of the season on Sunday.