Wolff makes ‘flirting’ call on Verstappen to Mercedes

Toto Wolff has called a halt to his open pursuit of Max Verstappen for Mercedes, insisting he will not "flirt outside" his current drivers.

After Lewis Hamilton's bombshell move to Ferrari for 2025 was confirmed, Verstappen was linked as the big-name successor to the seven-time F1 champion, with Mercedes boss Wolff also making the most of the political tensions at Red Bull to try and persuade the Dutchman to swap Milton Keynes for Brackley. 

The other major contender for the seat was F2 protégé Kimi Antonelli, who was ultimately handed the drive alongside George Russell for 2025, although Wolff still kept the door open for Verstappen in '26, the year of the major technical regulations overhaul.

The carrot of Mercedes acing the new power unit regulations, as it did in 2014, and doubts around Red Bull's in-house project, were dangled, as Verstappen and Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko confirmed he would be at the team in '25, but could not say for definite beyond that.

Reflecting on the situation, Wolff believes "flirting outside" the Mercedes tent must stop with Verstappen going nowhere in the short term.

"We're sitting back, I think I've expressed it before, and we have a similar view also from Max's side: you've got to put faith in your drivers or in your team," Wolff told Autosport. 

"You need to give it the maximum support you can to make it a success. 

"And only if things go really wrong, you will consider other opportunities.

“For me, it's like flirting outside whilst you're making your relationship work. It doesn't work, I'm not flirting outside.

“Only if I want to have a change, or consider a change, I would seek a conversation. 

"It is the same on [Verstappen's] side. We're pretty aligned in our values on that I think."