Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Toto Wolff sets record straight on Sardinia summit claims
Can Toto Wolff convince Max Verstappen to join Mercedes?
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has played down rumours that he recently met Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in Sardinia to seal a deal for the F1 2026 season.
Verstappen has been heavily linked with a move to Mercedes for next season over recent weeks despite being officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028.
Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Toto Wolff breaks silence on ‘Sardinia summit’ rumours
It is believed that the reigning four-time World Champion will be free to activate an exit clause if he is lower than fourth in the Drivers’ standings following next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Verstappen currently holds third in the championship with an 18-point advantage over George Russell, the driver he would most likely replace at Mercedes.
It was claimed last week that Ola Kallenius, the Mercedes chief executive, has approved the team’s move for Verstappen for F1 2026, with a plan to extract the Red Bull driver from his contract regarded as the last major barrier to a deal.
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Online rumours after the British Grand Prix earlier this month claimed that Verstappen and Wolff, who both reside in Monaco, had made separate trips to Sardinia.
It came just days after Red Bull sacked long-serving team principal Christian Horner, who is known to have an uneasy relationship with Verstappen’s father Jos, after more than 20 years in charge.
Doctored images purporting to show Wolff boarding Verstappen’s plane circulated widely on social media in the days after the alleged meeting.
However, it remained unclear if a meeting between the pair actually took place in Sardinia.
Addressing the speculation surrounding the Sardinia summit for the first time, Wolff insisted that the pair’s presence on the Mediterranean island was purely a coincidence.
He told Austrian outlet ORF: “What’s new is that people are doing photo collages with airplanes. We’ve never had that before.
“But if you spend your holidays close to each other, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to work together in Formula 1.
“We have always gotten along well and by chance we like to spend our holidays at the same places.”
Wolff went on to insist that retaining Mercedes’ current driver lineup of Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli remains the team’s “absolute priority” for F1 2026.
He added: “Discussions have been taking place over the last weeks and months, so they are all up to date.
“The direction of travel is definitely that we want to continue with George and Kimi. That is the absolute priority.
“But you can’t look past someone like Max and the plans he has for the future.
“We did that, but I don’t think there will be any big surprises.”
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Wolff’s latest comments come after Verstappen’s brother in law, the former Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr, appeared to backtrack on his claim that the reigning World Champion is highly likely to join Mercedes for F1 2026.
Piquet Jr, the sibling of Verstappen’s long-term partner Kelly Piquet, claimed earlier this month that Verstappen’s move to Mercedes was “just missing final contract details” with a decision set to be made during the upcoming August break.
In a fresh update, however, Piquet Jr raised the possibility that Verstappen has “already said no” to Mercedes.
Appearing on the Pelas Pistas podcast, he said: “Max just wants to be where he thinks he can win.
“Does money play a role? Of course, but the most important factor is that he wants to be in a good car.
“The only two choices he has are Red Bull and Mercedes.
“Maybe they sent Horner away to get him [Max] to stay? I don’t know.
“Maybe he’s already signed [for Mercedes], but maybe he’s also already said no.”
Quizzed on the rumoured Sardinia summit, he added: “That’s just a place where people go on holiday.”
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