– Max Verstappen will remain with Red Bull Racing for the coming years. A move to Mercedes is therefore off the table for now. However, Toto Wolff sees this with humor – because by his own definition, the paths of Mercedes and Verstappen have long since crossed. Not in Formula 1, but in GT3 racing.
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Mercedes and Red Bull are working together on a GT3 project, in which Verstappen pilots a Mercedes-AMG GT3. For Wolff, this is quite remarkable, as about a year and a half ago it was by no means certain that Red Bull would even let their superstar drive a Mercedes race car.
“The paths have already crossed – through GT racing,” says Wolff during his traditional media round with Dutch journalists in Zandvoort. “When we developed this program together a year and a half ago, it seemed a long way off. Because could Red Bull really let Max drive a Mercedes GT3?”
The answer now is: Yes. And Wolff makes a little jab at Verstappen’s new contract situation.
“We have Max for the most important races”
Because if Verstappen is not driving for Mercedes in Formula 1, Wolff at least has access to the four-time world champion in another discipline. “We have him for the really important races,” jokes the Austrian.
He means the endurance races on the Nürburgring Nordschleife – above all the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. For Wolff, these races are the real tests for racing drivers anyway. Modern Formula 1 may be technologically spectacular, but on the Nordschleife, it’s about something else.
“In Formula 1, we have huge gravel traps and paved runoff areas,” says Wolff. “The real racing takes place where you drive through the trees, over crests, and through blind corners.” And then follows perhaps the most unusual part of his comparison: “And against the Dacia!”
Wolff is referring to Olli’s Garage Racing, which competes with a Dacia Logan in the 24-hour race on the Nordschleife. The Mercedes team boss is obviously enthusiastic about this. “No, seriously: They are heroes!” laughs Wolff.
Verstappen against 150 cars, at night and in rain
Wolff can quite understandably explain the fascination with the Nordschleife. In endurance races, it’s not just about pure speed. Drivers have to cope with constantly changing conditions. “You race against 150 cars on the Nordschleife – by day and night, in fog and rain and on ice.”
That is exactly why Wolff calls these races “the real hero races.” That Verstappen regularly sits in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the Nordschleife probably pleases Wolff. Because the Dutchman has long had a special passion for the GT and sim racing scene and has repeatedly sought additional racing opportunities outside Formula 1.
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That Red Bull provides him with a Mercedes for this also shows how unusual the relationship between Verstappen and his employer is.
Would Wolff give Verstappen the same freedom?
This inevitably raises the question of whether Verstappen could enjoy the same freedoms at Mercedes that he has at Red Bull. Wolff does not want to commit to this. He does not dare to predict whether the paths of Mercedes and Verstappen will cross again in Formula 1.
“What the future brings, I don’t know,” says Wolff. “I don’t know where our paths will cross. In karting, in GT racing, in Formula 1, or in other joint projects?”
However, he still considers it possible that a collaboration could happen someday. “I believe that could happen one day – but maybe not necessarily with Max in a Mercedes Formula 1 car.”
With this, Wolff deliberately leaves a back door open. At the same time, Mercedes has already built up its own hopeful talent with Kimi Antonelli. The Italian even leads the championship in 2026 and has thus taken a position that makes a Verstappen move at least less compelling from a sporting perspective.
Wolff does not want to put drivers in a corset
Therefore, the interesting question is less whether Verstappen will actually become a Mercedes driver someday, but how Wolff would generally deal with a superstar like him. The Austrian emphasizes that every team works differently.
“I try to find out what makes the driver fast within our structure,” explains Wolff. “What framework do we need to create to get the best performance out of the driver?” Part of that is personal well-being. “That is something that is also very important to me.”
Here lies perhaps one of the decisive points in the relationship between Verstappen and Red Bull. The Dutchman enjoys exceptional freedoms with his current team – both in sporting terms and in his activities outside Formula 1.
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Wolff does not seem to fundamentally reject this philosophy. On the contrary: His approach sounds similar. It is not the driver who must be fully adapted to the structure, but the structure must find out how to get the maximum out of the driver.
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