Wolff shuts down further talk of Verstappen joining Mercedes as he insists team won't be ‘flirting outside’

Toto Wolff has shut down the possibility of trying to recruit Max Verstappen in the foreseeable future, with the Mercedes boss insisting that the team’s focus is fully on their impending line-up of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Following Lewis Hamilton’s shock announcement back in February that he would make the switch to Ferrari for 2025, speculation quickly mounted over who might fill his vacant seat at the Silver Arrows alongside Russell next season.

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One of the names linked to the position was Max Verstappen, with Wolff making no secret of the fact that he would be open to signing the Dutchman despite him holding a contract with Red Bull through to the end of 2028.

However, the rumours came to an end when Antonelli was announced as a Mercedes driver for 2025 during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, and Wolff has confirmed that the squad will now be entirely focused on their new pairing rather than trying to chase Verstappen.

“What I appreciated in dealing with them [Verstappen’s team], it’s just very straightforward,” Wolff explained at Monza. “I don’t flirt outside.

“I’ve always said it, I got maybe caught out by the whole situation [of Hamilton leaving], but I’ve not entertained any discussions with any drivers when giving it all from the team to make it a success.

“This is why all of our focus in the team is on George and Kimi, and that’s what I also said. There’s no discussion, there’s no second thoughts about what are doing in 2026, because now it’s about 2024 and 2025.

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“If flirting outside happens, then we will know it at the same time. When we have those discussions I’ve always been very open.”

Part of that focus has involved plenty of preparation work with 18-year-old Antonelli, who will make the step up from F2 following a rapid ascent through the junior motorsport ranks.

The Italian has been involved in a Testing of Previous Car (TPC) programme, having participated in around 10 sessions so far behind the wheel of older Mercedes F1 cars. Wolff believes that this has been a positive for Antonelli, with the programme set to continue prior to his F1 debut next year.

This was also something that Wolff chose to remain focused on rather than loaning the youngster out to the Williams team, a move that had been speculated about earlier in the season, before the team opted to replace Logan Sargeant with Argentinian racer Franco Colapinto.

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“The TPC testing this year was really important,” the Team Principal said. “We will be continuing with that because when you look at the blueprint back in the day that Lewis [arrived], it was a lot of testing to prepare not only for the driving but also going through a race weekend. [That] preparation is what we’ve done.

“When thinking about an opportunity at Williams, we opted to continue with our programme and continue to educate Kimi, finishing with doing another FP1 session and then doing Abu Dhabi [for the post-race test] and taking it from there.”