Wolff adopts no-rush philosophy as Verstappen 'door open'

Toto Wolff has reiterated his stance of not rushing into a driver line-up decision for next year but highlighted the door is open for Max Verstappen.

Mercedes is seeking a replacement for Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time F1 champion opted to call time on his tenure with Mercedes and join Ferrari in 2025.

Verstappen has been linked with an exit from Red Bull since the early season intra-team squabble, despite winning three successive drivers' titles.

Mercedes, which has taken a step forward at recent events, has continuously been linked as a potential destination for Verstappen, with Wolff again voicing his interest in bringing the Dutchman to his team. 

“We stay together as one team - in good times and in bad,” he told oe24. “I know what I have in our technical director James Allison and his management team.

“Max is, it seems anyway, the strongest driver at the moment. That is why we have always left the door open for him.

“At the moment, there is nothing to suggest that Max will leave Red Bull. The Red Bull is still the benchmark and he is miles ahead in the championship. Why would he want to flirt with another team at all?”

Antonelli choice will be a 'data decision'

Mercedes junior driver Kimi Antonelli has also been heavily linked with a promotion to the squad as the Italian takes part in his first F2 campaign.

Antonelli's Prema team has struggled to extract performance this year, however Wolff has asserted Mercedes is more focused on the data produced from his private F1 test outings.

“It’s a data decision, and obviously, when you look at Kimi, the team [Prema] hasn't really found good ground this year, which can happen,” he told Sky F1.

“He’s seventh [sic] and then Ollie Bearman, who is clearly a very good driver, is 14th [sic]. It's not saying that one is better than the other one, but they struggle with the car in specific sessions. 

“So we see what he's doing in the F1 car with us, that's the most important thing. 

“And that's for the rest of the driver market, there is something instinctive that tells me 'don’t rush' - I can't even tell you what it is.”