The latest season of Drive to Survive has revealed how Toto Wolff ‘promised’ Lewis Hamilton he would not hold contract talks with Max Verstappen.
After Hamilton’s announcement of leaving Mercedes in February 2024, Wolff quickly moved to try and get Verstappen from Red Bull for 2025, using the power struggle at the team to try and grab the Dutchman.
Ultimately, Verstappen stayed at Red Bull as an episode of season 7 of the Netflix show reveals a discussion between Wolff and his wife Susie in discussing potential driver options.
In it, Wolff reveals he made Hamilton a promise not to talk with Verstappen – although he would engage in talks with Verstappen’s father Jos in the paddock in Bahrain after the news of Hamilton’s defection was announced.
Below is a transcript of the conversation between the Wolffs, with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso also discussed.
Toto Wolff (TW): So Carlos is somebody to look at, he’s had some really good performances, Fernando, I mean, race pace, racecraft is still very good.
Susie Wolff (SW): You’re not going to start a new era with a long contract with Fernando, it’s an interim.
TW: What is he, 45?
SW: No I don’t think he is that old.
SW: You don’t think Max is an option?
TW: I think he is, but if you win all the races in a season…
SW: There is not much reason to leave
TW: I haven’t talked to him, because I promised Lewis I wouldn’t talk to him, but I will have the conversation now.
Wolff ultimately opted to promote protege Kimi Antonelli to partner George Russell for 2025.
You can check out RacingNews365’s review of the latest season of Drive to Survive here, with the series released globally on Netflix on Friday March 7th.
