Toto Wolff has spoken out about the Max Verstappen case, believing that it is no longer necessary to attract him to Mercedes for the moment.
The boss of the Mercedes team would have seen himself stealing the three-time Dutch world champion for next season, having seen a breach opening with the unstable situation at Red Bull.
However, this incredible transfer did not materialize, and Mercedes relied on its in-house driver, the young Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
Given the discussions between Wolff and the Verstappen clan, questions could still be asked about the future of Mercedes drivers beyond the 2025 season.
Indeed, in the event of a potential arrival of Verstappen at Mercedes in 2026, this would put the Russell-Antonelli duo in a complex situation, with only one place for two drivers.
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Wolff does not want “flirting” with Verstappen
“We stay behind”, assured Toto Wolff to Motorsport.com, when asked about the Verstappen case.
“I think I’ve expressed it before, and we have a similar point of view also on Max’s side: you have to trust your drivers or your team.”
“You need to give them all the support you can for them to succeed. And only if things go really bad will you consider other opportunities.”
“To me, it’s like flirting on the outside while you’re busy making your relationship work. This doesn’t work, I don’t flirt outside.”
“Only if I want to change, or consider change, would I seek to have a conversation. And it’s the same thing on his side. We are pretty close in our values on that, I think.”
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