Toto Wolff hints at final decision over Max Verstappen signing for Mercedes

Toto Wolff has given his strongest indication yet that he believes Max Verstappen will not be signing for Mercedes for the 2026 F1 season.

Mercedes' public courting of Verstappen has been ongoing for some time, with both current drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli out of contract at the end of this season.

Russell has been confident of landing an extension, with Wolff also keen to publicly support Antonelli in his rookie season, but given events at Red Bull including the sacking of Christian Horner, the possibility of a Verstappen exit for 2026 had grown. 

Verstappen himself has so far refused to 100% confirm he will be with the team next year as F1 embarks on a huge package of chassis and engine changes, meaning 2027 would be a more realistic chance of him leaving the Miilton Keynes squad given the unknown of '26 with the pecking order becoming clearer for '27.

That is a realisation Wolff has also hinted at, as he backed Russell and Antonelli. 

"It's not just about the team making a decision," Wolff told ORF. 

"The drivers also need to know where they are, we have always tried to stick to this rule, and we will do that this time.

"The direction of travel is that we want to continue with George and Kimi. That is the first priority, they are all up to date."

During the recent two week break between the British and Belgian GPs, fans on social media noticed that both Wolff and Verstappen were on holiday in Sardinia, and even photo-shopped images purpoting to show Wolff boarding Verstappen's private plane. 

The Mercedes boss laughed off the incident.

"It is new that people make photo collages of a plane.," he said. 

"We've never had that before. If you go on vacation close to each other, that doesn't mean you're also working together in Formula 1. We've always had a good relationship, and coincidentally, we also spend the holidays in similar areas."