Max Verstappen pictured with Toto Wolff on Sardinia holiday during F1 summer break

Max Verstappen has been pictured onboard Toto Wolff’s yacht as both are holidaying off the coast of Sardinia.

With F1 currently on holiday as the mandatory two-week summer break has begun, Max Verstappen has set tongues wagging after being pictured aboard Toto Wolff’s yacht.

Max Verstappen visits Toto Wolff’s yacht

As first shared by Italian publication AutoSprint, images of Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff together onboard the Austrian’s yacht have spread across social media on Wednesday.

Unlike recent images of Wolff and Verstappen together on another recent break in the F1 calendar, PlanetF1.com understands that the most recent images are authentic and that Verstappen did visit Wolff’s yacht while both men are holidaying in Sardinia.

Verstappen and Wolff are not the only F1 figures on holiday on the Italian island, with Charles Leclerc also in the vicinity, as has been evidenced by his willingness to pose in fan photos.

Sources close to the situation have indicated that the circulating images, as can be viewed below as on AutoSprint’s own social media post, are completely authentic, despite what looks like image artefacts suggesting the use of AI.

The two men are known to have a good relationship, with both on holiday with their families, suggesting Verstappen’s visit to Wolff’s yacht, the Mangusta, is purely social, rather than being work-related.

The meeting together comes just weeks after a similar holiday during the three-week gap after the British Grand Prix, during which time fake images circulated across social media.

In Belgium, the first race afterward, Verstappen scoffed at the speculation that he and Wolff had met together to discuss a Mercedes team switch for the Dutch driver.

“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 are also 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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Recently, Verstappen brought to an end the speculation that he could switch to Wolff’s Mercedes team for the F1 2026 season, confirming his intention to remain with the Red Bull team for next year.

It’s understood that Verstappen did explore his options at Mercedes, with uncertainty over the competitiveness of the Red Bull team ahead of a major rules change for next season as the Milton Keynes-based squad also enters its own power unit for the first time.

But the four-time F1 World Champion has kept faith with Red Bull for another season, allowing him to keep a watching brief on the competitive pecking order next season as Mercedes, according to paddock whispers, is the favourite to hit the ground running with the revolutionary new regulations.

For Wolff, he may not have tempted Verstappen to leave Red Bull for 2026, with the Dutch driver under contract until 2028, but it’s believed that Red Bull has already indicated to Verstappen that the company won’t stand in his way if he chooses to leave for pastures new next year.

Mercedes is yet to confirm its driver line-up for next season, although it’s expected that the current driver line-up of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will be retained. However, the length of the contracts will be of particular interest, with Mercedes likely to keep at least one of the pair on a deal that gives it a window of opportunity to sign Verstappen if circumstances allow.

For Russell and Antonelli, both of whom are managed directly by Mercedes, it means their contract negotiations are somewhat more complicated, with at least one of the pair likely fighting to keep their seat beyond the end of F1 2026.

For now, Verstappen’s future is secure and, according to new team boss Laurent Mekies, there was never “a real doubt, as far as the team is concerned.

“Max has been saying it over and over again, and we know what he wants: He wants the fast car.

“Now, the fact that he said it a bit louder this time, I guess, is good for everyone to hear, but as far as we are concerned, he has always been a part of and central to the team.”

Verstappen’s future is quite likely to be determined by just how competitive the RB22, and the first RBPT engine, turn out to be in F1 2026.

It’s believed that, shortly before his firing from his position as Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner indicated internally the team would need at least three years to become true front-runners again, which, if it plays out as such, means Verstappen may well have his head turned by Mercedes during next season.

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