Toto Wolff makes Max Verstappen ‘mistake’ admission as philosophy ‘bites’

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has vowed to learn from the “mistake” that was the Max Verstappen saga, which played out over the F1 2025 summer, forming a key part of the ‘silly season’ narrative.

Adding that the “coincidence” of he and Verstappen ending up in the same spot in Sardinia “doesn’t look good”, Wolff said that being “open and transparent” is his policy, which sometimes comes back to “bite” him. But, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli signed to new deals, Wolff insists that this driver line-up is the way forward for Mercedes.

Toto Wolff on Max Verstappen saga: ‘Learn from the mistake’

Talk of Verstappen to Mercedes returned over the past summer, after Russell suggested that “ongoing” discussions between both parties were influencing his path to a new deal.

It was not until the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix that Verstappen officially re-affirmed his Red Bull commitment, with Wolff having confirmed exploration of Verstappen’s situation.

When Verstappen was pictured onboard Wolff’s yacht, as both enjoyed a holiday off the coast of Sardinia, naturally, inaccurate rumours began swirling about this meet-up being a chance to hold talks over a Mercedes move.

Wolff admitted that this “coincidence” certainly did not help the situation, but with Russell and Antonelli signing new Mercedes deals ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the Mercedes boss now looks to act on lessons learned from the situation with Verstappen, and “move forward” with the Russell and Antonelli pairing.

“So the truth is, you’ve got to learn from the mistake,” Wolff told Sky F1.

“I think there wasn’t any on purpose flirting. It’s just a coincidence. It was clear that you need to have that conversation, and then we ended up in the same place in the summer, which obviously doesn’t look good and is destabilising for everyone.

“But that’s the past. Now, everything is cleared, contracts are signed, and we move forward.”

During the team bosses’ press conference in Austin, Wolff was asked how difficult it has been to balance his loyalty to Russell and Antonelli, versus carrying out his duty of getting Verstappen’s thoughts on his future, as a decline in Red Bull’s form sparked talk of the four-time World Champion looking elsewhere.

“Being open and transparent is the best path forward,” said Wolff. “Sometimes it bites you a bit.

“When you look back, maybe certain events could have been better coincidences that happened.

“But I’ve always done it in the most straightforward and fair way.”

Wolff stressed that Russell and Antonelli is “the full focus”, and was “always the aim throughout also the more tricky part over the summer.”

PlanetF1.com understands Russell’s new contract to be a multi-year deal. But, that could potentially constitute a one-plus-one optional deal, an agreement covering multiple years, but which needs an option from either side to be triggered to activate.

Antonelli’s new contract meanwhile is understood to cover 2026.

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Sky F1’s Martin Brundle quizzed Wolff on the nature of Russell’s new contract, pointing out how Mercedes lost seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to a one-plus-one deal, as it allowed him to engineer a move to Ferrari.

Brundle went on to fantasise about a Mercedes universe where Russell and Verstappen formed the F1 2027 driver line-up.

“Certainly good entertainment for everyone,” Wolff responded. “But we don’t want to create any rumours here.

“Kimi and George is what we want to do in the future and going forward. It’s a good line-up.”

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