Wolff opens up on relationship with the Verstappens and a 2021 regret

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has given an insight into his relationship with Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen after revealing he failed to lure the Dutchman from his Formula 1 rivals.

Wolff explained ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix that he had continued to hold meetings with Verstappen’s father Jos and manager Raymond Vermeulen over the summer in the hope of signing him to become Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at the Silver Arrows.

His long-term pursuit of Verstappen could be born from his frustration at missing out on offering him a place at Mercedes in 2014, when the team had just started its purple patch of form. Wolff opted to retain Nico Rosberg and Hamilton, with the former quitting the team two years later having won the title.

However, the Verstappen-Wolff friendship has not been an entirely smooth ride, most notably in 2021 when Verstappen took the title against Hamilton in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi finale.

But there was another flashpoint in the relationship after that season’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Hamilton and Verstappen clashed on the opening lap, leaving the Dutchman in hospital while the Briton took the chequered flag.

“I have gotten on with Jos for all my life, maybe because we’re a bit similar. I think we had a very good relationship since Max became on the radar, racing single-seaters,” Wolff said.

“Probably our meeting in my living room in Vienna [before Verstappen agreed to join Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso – now RB – in 2015] was the first big Formula 1 meeting they did and we had always the understanding of how things should work for them and for us.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Patrik Lundin / Motorsport Images

“I think that respect for each other always stayed. Where we had a moment was after Silverstone.

“That season really took some toll on all of us. It was so intense. Each of us felt that things weren’t right.

“Where it really went wrong is that I made a mistake after Silverstone, I didn’t call Jos on the same day, which I should have done but I didn’t call him because we were so angry on the whole situation, also because I was told in the pitlane that Max is fine and there is nothing [no injuries].

“In a way, I relied on that information rather than picking up the phone and calling Jos like I would have done all the years before and saying ‘is Max okay?’ because I have a child that go-karts, I know how you feel as a father and that’s not something that I had in my mind.

“So for, I would say for a year, and then obviously the disaster in Abu Dhabi – and the races leading up to Saudi Arabia, we weren’t in a good place, but we were kind of on the same wavelength in the year afterwards, so it went back into a good position and it is today, for the last couple of years, as good as it was at the beginning.”

Wolff was speaking to Dutch media at Zandvoort, so while his friendship was a natural subject to hit upon, perhaps his tenacity and refusal to give up hope of signing Verstappen was a little unexpected.

At the Austrian GP, Verstappen categorically ruled out leaving Red Bull for next season – but Wolff was unconvinced and looked to capitalise on the disharmony within its rivals surrounding counterpart Christian Horner.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Wolff’s latest comments will no doubt raise eyebrows at Red Bull – and perhaps that is also the point: to try and unsettle his rivals as Mercedes edges its way back at the sharp end and fighting for wins.

“I think the rivalry over all those years, from 2017 onwards, was always healthy,” Wolff stated. “This is like rugby. You punch the other one in the nose on the field, but you’re able to then go to the pub and that is always how we maintain the relationships.

“So I’m not worried about them. We are competitors. We try to beat each other. Sometimes it’s going to be hard, but that’s okay. I think ’21 was not the kind of racing you would want to have.”