Today at 08:20
Toto Wolff has recalled his previous experience of having
"difficult conversations" with drivers as Mercedes continues to
chase Max Verstappen. Wolff is a long-term fan of Verstappen and
is keen to lure the four-time champion away from Red Bull and join
the Brackley squad for 2026. However, should this be successful,
either George Russell or Kimi Antonelli will have to make way for
the Dutchman, with both incumbent drivers out of contract at the
end of this season. Wolff's decision to replace Lewis Hamilton
with Antonelli was relatively straightforward, but in 2021, he
faced a difficult choice as to whether to replace Valtteri Bottas
with Russell, who was angling for promotion from Williams. Russell
ultimately got the nod ahead of Bottas, who himself was kept on for
2019 in place of Mercedes junior and Racing Point refugee Esteban
Ocon. As Verstappen continues to refuse to publicly disavow his
chances of moving to Mercedes, questions will remain for both
parties. However, fortunately for Wolff, he recalled some prior
experience of managing tricky driver situations. "It is in the
nature of the sport that you talk about people, whether they're in
the car, in the factory, or at the racetrack," Wolff told media,
including RacingNews365. "Most important is to stay true to your
values. For me, that is having integrity and being humble about the
situation, respectful of the people, and that's what I and what we
are trying to do in the team. "But I've been in situations like
this before, also before I was doing Formula 1, and some of the
conversations are more difficult than others."
