Toto Wolff opens up on Max Verstappen ‘mistake’ after relying on Red Bull information

Toto Wolff has admitted he made a “mistake” in his relationship with Max Verstappen’s camp by not checking on the Red Bull driver’s condition following his clash with Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 British Grand Prix.

Verstappen has been persistently linked with a move to Wolff’s Mercedes team this year after Hamilton announced his decision to join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from F1 2025.

Toto Wolff reveals Max Verstappen Silverstone 2021 regret

Wolff has made no secret of his desire to sign the reigning three-time World Champion, admitting he “would love to have” Verstappen in a Mercedes.

Mercedes’ pursuit of Verstappen, who holds a contract with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season, appears to have been shelved for at least the foreseeable future, with multiple reports claiming the team are set to confirm teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli will drive Hamilton’s car in opening practice at Monza as his preparations for a likely F1 2025 debut ramp up.

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Mercedes’ interest in Verstappen comes despite the Dutchman being embroiled in a bitter 2021 title battle with Hamilton, which ended with the British driver being denied a record eighth World Championship in highly controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi decider.

Verstappen and Hamilton came to blows on a number of occasions in 2021, including in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where the Red Bull man crashed heavily at the fearsome Copse after an opening-lap collision.

Verstappen was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, while Hamilton overcame a 10-second penalty for causing a collision to win his home race.

Senior Red Bull figures, including team principal Christian Horner, called for Hamilton to be banned in the aftermath of the collision, with Verstappen calling the Mercedes driver’s post-race celebrations “disrespectful” as he watched on from hospital.

Wolff has expressed his regret over his failure to check in on Verstappen’s condition with his father Jos, with the emotion of the afternoon clouding his judgement.

“I think where we had a moment was after Silverstone,” he said, per RN365.

“I think 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 about the whole situation and because I was told by Paul Monaghan [Red Bull engineer] in the pit lane that Max was fine and there is nothing [wrong].

“And 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 OK?’

“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.”

Verstappen revealed earlier this year that he struggled with blurred vision in some races in 2021 as a direct result of his crash at Silverstone, likening his crucial victory in the United States Grand Prix in Austin to “driving a speedboat at 300kph.”

Wolff admitted his relationship with the Verstappens wasn’t “in a good place” as the 2021 season reached its crescendo in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, but has returned to a healthy state in the years since.

He added: “Then obviously the disaster Abu Dhabi and the races leading up to Saudi Arabia, we weren’t in a good place.

“We were on the same wavelength in the year afterwards, we went back into a good position.

“And today, or the last couple of years, [its] as good as it was at the beginning [of our relationship].”

Verstappen was briefly linked with Mercedes before joining Red Bull’s driver academy, with the latter’s promise of a promotion to F1 with junior team VCARB (then Toro Rosso) in 2015 key to securing a teenage Verstappen’s signature.

Wolff claimed that there has been a mutual respect between him and Verstappen since the driver was invited to his house for his “first big Formula 1 meeting.”

He said: “We’ve had a very good relationship since Max came on our radar, racing single-seaters.

“Our meeting in my living room in Vienna 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.

“That respect for each other always stayed.”

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