Wolff admits ’mistake’ with Verstappen relationship

Max Verstappen will not confirm that his management held detailed talks about a future tie-up with Mercedes over the summer break.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff joked that he did "somersaults" in August in trying to convince the triple world champion, his father Jos and co-manager Raymond Vermeulen to jump ship from Red Bull as early as 2025.

"We always kept the communication going," said Wolff, "and have always been honest with each other, talking about what makes sense and what doesn’t.

"At some point we concluded that we’ll leave it for now and see what happens in the future. I want to focus on George Russell and - oh, I’m almost saying his name again - on our drivers for next year," he smiled, clearly referring to Kimi Antonelli.

When asked about the supposed August meeting with Wolff, Verstappen answered at Zandvoort: "What meeting? I don’t remember."

His current boss, Red Bull chief Christian Horner, said that with Antonelli now definitely replacing Lewis Hamilton next year, Wolff should stop commenting on Verstappen.

When asked if he agrees with Horner, Verstappen said: "No, everyone can say what they want. And I get on very well with Toto. And at the same time, I just focus on my job."

It wasn’t always the case that Wolff and the Verstappen camp got along. In 2021, the relationship hit breaking point during the ultra-intense title battle with Hamilton.

"It was mainly because of what happened in Silverstone," said Wolff, referring to the aftermath of Verstappen’s high-speed crash with Hamilton and brief hospitalisation. "I made a mistake there," admitted the Austrian.

"I didn’t call Jos the same day to ask how Max was doing," Wolff said. "That’s what I would have always done in the years before.

"Our relationship was not ok for a year, also because of the drama in Abu Dhabi. But it is back to how it used to be."

However, the Verstappen project is now being put on Wolff’s back burner, with an official announcement about Antonelli’s 2025 deal scheduled for Monza in less than week.

"I’m having some problems with my communications team," Wolff laughed, "because I keep saying too much. The announcement will come soon, and Italy is a good place for that."

He will also keep an eye on Verstappen’s situation at Red Bull, "and not just in terms of performance," Wolff explained. "It’s still a pretty unsettled place there, also because of the interpersonal problems that we all know about."

Verstappen qualified over three tenths behind McLaren’s Lando Norris for his home Dutch GP on Sunday. "Oversteer and understeer," the Dutchman explained to Viaplay. "It was also all in different places on the track.

"It was always different in all the runs, so that was fun. And I’m being sarcastic," said the 26-year-old. "It’s not going to magically get better, so I’ll do my best."