Toto Wolff confirms Max Verstappen talks as meeting details shared

Toto Wolff has clarified a meeting between himself and four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen during the summer break.

Mercedes boss Wolff has been publicly pursuing the services of Verstappen for quite some time, despite having a driver lineup of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli that has powered his team to second in the standings with seven rounds to go.

Verstappen's long-term future with Red Bull had been called into question, and Mercedes have now tried to pry the Dutchman away in both 2024 and 2025. There were even rumours of a meeting between the pair in Sardinia during the summer break to discuss a potential transfer.

Since then, Verstappen has confirmed that he will be staying at Red Bull for 2026, before he will likely look to join whoever has mastered the 2026 regulation changes for the following year.

Now, Wolff has clarified that the rumoured meeting in Sardinia did happen, but that it was not to talk about anything to do with F1. Wolff and Verstappen are known to share a close relationship.

"We didn’t discuss big sporting matters too much in the summer," Wolff told F1 media at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last time out. "It was more on a personal level."

Will Verstappen join Mercedes in 2027?

While the contracts have not been officially signed, it's understood that Russell and Antonelli will still make up Mercedes' 2026 driver lineup.

19-year-old rookie Antonelli has struggled in recent months, only picking up points in four of the last 11 race weekends, with rumours spreading of a demotion from the team for next season.

Wolff has constantly reiterated that this will not be the case, labelling these rumours as nonsense, but 2027 could be a different story.

If Antonelli does secure a contract with the Silver Arrows for 2026 and his performances don't pick up, Wolff could be even more likely to pursue Verstappen again.

And the Dutchman might be tempted next year if Red Bull don't provide him with a car capable of seriously mounting a challenge for the championship.

That would, however, likely leave Russell and Verstappen as team-mates, despite the pair having been embroiled in a war of words since the 2024 Qatar GP, when Russell accused Verstappen of 'bullying' behaviour.

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