Wolff responds to rumours surrounding conversation with Verstappen

Toto Wolff has responded to rumours that a conversation was going to take place between him and Max Verstappen after the Miami Grand Prix, to see if a possible move to Mercedes would be an interesting one for both parties.

Verstappen is rumoured to be in talks with his manager and father in the near future with Toto Wolff to see if a possible switch to Mercedes would be an interesting option for the future.

Fuel was added to the fire earlier this week, as several outlets started reporting a potential figure Mercedes could offer the Red Bull driver.

That figure would be as much as €150 million, about three times more than the salary of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Wolff has now reacted for the first time to the rumour of the two sitting down for talks, ahead of this weekend's trip to the Miami International Autodrome.

He has never denied that he would be in favour of signing the three-time world champion, but he is trying to silence rumours of possible planned talks.

'One of the rumours'

During the launch of a Whatsapp emoji (the race car emoji now has the colours of a Mercedes F1 car), the Austrian was asked by Reuters about the possible meeting with Verstappen.

"No, that's one of the rumours," stated the Mercedes boss.

"People make up meetings, make up what happens to the drivers, but these things should happen behind closed doors and everything that has been brought out was not really correct."

He also addressed the recent speculation that Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey will leave Red Bull. Newey has been heavily linked with a move to Ferrari who, of course, Hamilton is joining in 2025.

"Adrian Newey is an iconic engineer in Formula 1 with a great track record and again, there are also so many people talking about what he might end up doing and whether he leaves Red Bull or not," Wolff said.