Toto Wolff will stop ‘flirting’ with Max Verstappen as he shares ‘contamination’ fears over Lewis Hamilton replacement
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has finally conceded defeat in attempting to replace Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen.
The Silver Arrows boss has led a public pursuit of the three-time world champion since Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari.
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Wolff famously missed out on signing Verstappen in 2015 but had hoped to right that wrong by landing him exactly a decade later.
Mercedes ultimately unveiled Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton's replacement for next season.
The rising Formula 2 driver only penned a one-year deal with future teammate George Russell, who is also out of contract in 2026.
That continued speculation that Mercedes would make a fresh attempt to land Verstappen in time for the new F1 regulations.
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However, team principal Wolff has now officially drawn a line under his audacious bid to prize the Dutchman from Red Bull Racing.
“We’re sitting back,” he told
“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.
“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.
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“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. And it is the same on his side. We’re pretty aligned in our values on that I think.”
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Verstappen's frustrations at Red Bull coupled with the internal chaos behind the scenes opened the door for Mercedes to make a move.
The 26-year-old hasn't won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June as McLaren have overtaken Red Bull in the constructor's standings and only his individual brilliance has preserved his lead in the drivers' championship.
Off-track, allegations of improper behaviour against team principal chief Christian Horner overshadowed the start of the season.
Legendary design chief Adrian Newey has already jumped ship to Aston Martin, while Verstappen's father Jos has had several bust-ups with Horner.
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Ironically, Mercedes eventually turned to Antonelli, who has already been dubbed 'the next Verstappen', despite Wolff initially ruling out such a bold decision.
The Brackley-based outfit had planned for the 18-year-old to continue his development in the junior categories before potentially replacing Hamilton - before the latter sprung a shock by activating the exit clause mid-way into his latest two-year extension.
Antonelli, who has just one F2 race win under his belt, is not even following Russell's pathway in building experience at Williams.
Williams have strong links to Mercedes as they share an engine and are led by James Vowles, who was the motorsport strategy director under Wolff before becoming team principal in Oxfordshire.
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But the team are also currently backmarkers and Wolff would rather mould Antonelli himself rather than loan him out.
He told : “The reason that Antonelli is driving a Mercedes straight away and not making his debut with Williams first is because you want him fresh, not contaminated if you can say so, by external experiences.
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“If he were to go to another team first, he would learn different things, behaviour, have different understandings of technical matters than us. We want to avoid that.
“I think it only brings advantages to have a young guy with you straight away.”
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