Toto Wolff addresses the prospect of  Max Verstappen joining Mercedes for 2026

Max Verstappen not one or the other affirmed nor denied the assembly when addressed approximately it a while later by the media. The driver indeed selected not to tell Toto Wolff to halt the to some degree open interest of his as he said that he seem not tell anybody almost what they might and might not say.

Since at that point, the rumor process has been sent into overdrive with theory around the longer term of Max Verstappen for 2026 since Kimi Antonelli is around to be reported for 2025. The address was put forward to Toto Wolff on whether he would engage a Kimi Antonelli-Max Verstappen association in 2026, to which the Austrian said that it was as well early to indeed conversation almost this.

He is cheerful with his current lineup and needs to have it for the long-term. At the same time, Toto did concede that he has an open channel of communication with Max, and he can conversation to him at whatever point he wants to. He told the BBC:

“Much as well early. For the good thing about our drivers following year, I do not need to have any discussion approximately 2026 or past, since we exceptionally much trust that the 2025 line-up will be the line-up going forward.”

He included:

“We have not given each other any, let’s say, timings. It is more like, keep the communication channel open, whereas knowing that his need is to create it work with Rud Bull and our need will be to form it work with the two drivers we have.”

Mercedes boss opens up on how the discussion to begin with started with Max Verstappen
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff talked around how the Max Verstappen discussions to begin with started, and he pointed to the begin of the season when Ruddy Bull was going through a turbulent time. The team’s principal, Christian Horner, had an inner examination against him, which driven to a level of precariousness inside the group.

Since the start of the season, when Red Bull was dominant and Max Verstappen was winning a lot of the races, things have changed. The team has been caught in terms of performance and has not won a race since its win in Barcelona. Toto Wolff revealed it was around this time that the conversations increased between the two parties. He said:
“Red Bull was the dominant car at the beginning of the season. And that changed a bit. It’s Max Verstappen dominant at the moment. And the relationships were dysfunctional. I’m not sure they are back in a great place, but it is what it is. There was a moment, or there was an opportunity, to at least have conversations of what it could be in the future, and this is what we did.”

The manner in which Wolff has talked about being in contact with Max, it would be interesting to see what kind of reaction Red Bull boss Christian Horner has when it comes to all of this.