Toto Wolff, the principal of the Mercedes team, claims to have an “open communication line” with Max Verstappen about a possible future with the team.
Wolff has given up on trying to sign the Red Bull driver for the upcoming season, and Mercedes is anticipated to announce shortly that Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an Italian, would compete with George Russell.
However, Wolff said in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport that he had discussions regarding a move for the upcoming season with Verstappen and his management this year.
While acknowledging that it was a “far shot,” he explained that he took the approach because “there was not a zero likelihood” in the wake of the disruption at Red Bull, which followed claims of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behavior made by a female employee against Christian Horner, the team principal.
According to Wolff, “Red Bull was the dominant car at the start of the season.” And that somewhat altered. Right now, Max Verstappen is dominating.
“In addition, the partnerships were unhealthy. Although I don’t think they are in a terrific spot again, things are as they are. We took advantage of the opportunity to at least discuss potential future developments when it presented itself.”
These discussions happened even though Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull that runs through the end of 2028.
Jos Verstappen, the driver’s father and a key member of the management team, is still at odds with Horner, despite the fact that Horner was exonerated after two internal Red Bull investigations that rejected the accusation against him.
Max Verstappen stated he “gets on really well with Toto—he’s quite honest about what’s occurring within his team” at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. Furthermore, the three-time world champion declared that there was “nothing wrong” with Wolff declaring his admiration for him in public.
When asked if Verstappen might join Mercedes in 2026, Wolff responded, “That would be far too early.” I don’t want to talk about 2026 or beyond for the benefit of our drivers next year since we sincerely expect that the 2025 lineup will remain the lineup moving forward.”
When asked if he and the Verstappens had decided to continue their conversation, he replied, “We haven’t given each other any, say, specific timings.” It’s more like, “Keep the lines of communication open, but understand that our goal is to get it working with the two drivers we have, and his is to get it working with Red Bull.”
