Max Verstappen addresses secret Toto Wolff meeting in Sardinia

Max Verstappen dismissed rumours that he met Toto Wolff during a holiday in Sardinia to discuss a potential switch to Mercedes as nothing more than a coincidence that they were at the same island.

Reports emerged in the wake of Christian Horner’s Red Bull sacking that Red Bull’s World Champion had been photographed together with Wolff on the Italian island.

Max Verstappen: I was swimming in the ocean at the time

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Flying into Sardinia just two days after Horner’s exit to board his yacht, fake images claiming to show Verstappen and Wolff meeting up were splashed over social media.

Ralf Schumacher added fuel to the fire, saying: “It’s no coincidence that this week, two yachts are cruising off Sardinia – one belongs to Toto Wolff, the other to Max Verstappen.

“And from what I hear, there’s a good chance they might have had a coffee together.”

Verstappen scoffed at the speculation.

“Well, I was swimming in the ocean at the time,” the 27-year-old told the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I don’t really care about those things,” he went on to say about the rumours.

“Because I went on holiday with my friends, my family, and when other people also are there at the same time, that can happen. I mean, there are more people on the island than just me and Toto and the family.

“If you go to the same island, that can happen.”

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The Dutch racer’s future in Formula 1 has been the subject of much speculation over the past 18 months despite Verstappen holding a long-term contract with Red Bull that runs through to the end of the F1 2028 season.

He’s been widely linked to Mercedes, with George Russell reigniting that rumours when he revealed last month that Verstappen was in “ongoing” talks with Wolff. He reiterated that at Spa, saying: “They were and they are, that’s fine. Everybody talks.”

Verstappen, though, wouldn’t be drawn on whether leaving for Mercedes, or any other team, was an option for him in F1 2026.

“There is also the possibility of not waking up tomorrow and so there is no driving at all,” he replied.

“Life is unpredictable and, in general, I am happy with where I am at. The target was that when I signed my deal, I would drive here until the end of my career.”

For now the four-time World Champion is just focused on doing the job on the track for Red Bull and new team principal Laurent Mekies.

The Frenchman replaced Horner with immediate effect, with the Belgian Grand Prix marking his first Grand Prix in charge of the Milton Keynes team.

Asked about the atmosphere under the new management, Verstappen said: “Of course, when there’s a change like that, on the first day people are a bit like, ‘okay, what’s happening’.

“But luckily, I think on the day, basically the day after the announcement, I was at the factory doing my simulator stuff, and you just go back to work. We have to work on performance, setting up the car here, making sure that everything is correlated in the best way possible.

“And, yeah, you just focus on that, because at the end of the day, that’s my job. That’s the engineer’s job as well. It’s about tryingto find as much performance as possible. That’s what we are paid for.”

Verstappen is currently third in the Drivers’ Championship, 69 points down on championship leader Oscar Piastri. But perhaps more importantly, he’s 46 ahead of fifth-placed Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman’s exit clause reportedly states he has to be lower than fourth after the Hungarian Grand Prix to trigger a Red Bull exit.

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