Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has appeared to rule out a move to sign Max Verstappen for 2026, as he reiterated his desire to retain the team’s current Formula 1 line-up.
There have been widespread reports that Verstappen could be Mercedes-bound since George Russell divulged that the two parties are engaged in active discussions.
But although he was reticent when probed on the speculation at Silverstone, the Dutchman did not provide an assurance that he will still be with Red Bull next season.
Verstappen’s uncertain prospects have caused doubts to emanate about Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s seats as neither driver has a contract in place past 2025.
However, Wolff has insisted that the German marque intends to embark on the impending regulation change with Russell alongside Antonelli in an unchanged pairing.
“It’s not just about the team making a decision. The drivers also need to know where they stand,” Wolff told ORF.
“We have always tried to stick to this rule. And we will do it again now.”
“The direction we want to take is to continue with George and Kimi. That’s our top priority. Everyone is informed. There will be no big surprises.”
Wolff denies meeting Verstappen
Verstappen and Wolff were both tracked to an Italian island earlier this month, with a fake image showing the latter boarding the Red Bull driver’s jet doing the rounds.
“It’s new that people are making photo collages with airplanes. We’ve never seen that before,” Wolff remarked.
But on a serious note, Wolff has contended that it was a mere coincidence that the duo were located in an identical area during the three-week break between rounds.
“It’s not like if you’re on vacation close to each other, you’re going to work together in Formula 1,” the Austrian continued.
“We’ve always gotten along well. It just happens that we vacation in the same area.”
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This resonates completely
Will be 2027 then.
Max should take a sabbatical in 2026. That power unit at the Red Bull circus is nowhere near ready (to make things worse it’s a Ford) the last great motor they were involved in was the amazing Cosworth DFV (But that was because of the genius of Costin and Keith Duckworth nor Ford). Red Bull are losing talent faster than a man with cholera loses the contents of his bowels. They will racing HAAS and Cadillac in 2026. I Mercedes don’t want him rather take a chance with Aston Martin. They have among others Mr Adrian Newey so the chassis will work. Honda know wow to build a winning power unit. Red Bull have none of thse
Bottom line, Wolff tried everything to get Max,kept George dangling then after missing out on Max, opted to keep George
Max Verstappen shouldn’t take a sabbatical because, well, Isack Hadjar needs an experienced mentor that could teach him everything he needs to know, before he takes over as Red Bull’s captain in 2027!