Toto Wolff responds to Max Verstappen rumours amid Mercedes speculation
Max Verstappen is often linked with a move to Mercedes.
Toto Wolff has insisted there is no plan to tempt Max Verstappen over to Mercedes and instead suggested George Russell should be with the team for the next decade.
You are never too far away from the next rumour linking the four-time World Champion to Mercedes but team principal and CEO Wolff has attempted to draw a line under it for the time being.
Max Verstappen off the table says Toto Wolff
Wolff was at the forefront of Mercedes’ sustained push to unsettle Verstappen at Red Bull and lure him to Mercedes with the Austrian keen to amend missing the opportunity to sign Verstappen before the Dutchman joined Toro Rosso but the trial has gone cold in recent months.
That came as a result of Verstappen confirming he would be with Red Bull in 2026 while Mercedes seemed to have settled on the driver pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Speculation though is always there and after the likes of Damon Hill suggested Russell’s position was always temporary, Wolff confirmed there was no talks with Verstappen and said Russell was welcome to stay for the next decade.
“Someone said that the Max discussions will eventually come back on the table again,” he told the Press Association. “But no, there are not any Max discussions.
“I could not be happier with the two drivers that we have. The positioning of the two, with the age gap and how it aligns well with our strategy, means there are not any discussions.”
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“I respect Damon tremendously. I read his book, and I can relate to many things in his life. And he is a world champion, and there are not many that can say that.
“But on that particular topic, I wouldn’t have said it that way because George has been with us since 2017 and there is no reason why that shouldn’t keep going until 2037.”
“The Max to Mercedes thing for now is not on. The situation is completely transparent. We have clear contracts with both drivers.”
Russell is contracted to 2027, although it is believed that will be automatically extended should objectives be reached, while Antonelli has a contract for just this year currently but a maiden win will only have improved his case for staying next year.
Russell, speaking to the Guardian, suggested he had nothing to prove.
“I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove, to be honest,” he said. “That’s helped me a lot as I’ve gotten older because when you’re younger you are trying to prove yourself and you want to try and be funny, you want to come across nice. You want to do this, you want to do that, to please the right people, whereas now, I don’t really care.
“I just want to be myself, I want to be happy with the people who are closest to me, I want to work hard with my team, and I want to drive as fast as possible on the racetrack.”
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