Toto Wolff has responded to rumors that after the Miami Grand Prix, a meeting would take place involving him and Max Verstappen to discuss whether a potential move to Mercedes would be of interest to both parties.
The topic of conversation over the past week has been that Max Verstappen is rumored to soon discuss with his manager and father, along with Toto Wolff, whether a potential switch to the Mercedes team would be a favorable option for his future.
This rumor was detailed with figures about what such a potential move could yield for the three-time world champion, amounting to as much as 150 million euro a year. That is approximately three times more than the salary of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has now responded for the first time to the rumor that the two would sit down together ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. He has never denied his desire to secure the three-time world champion for the German racing team, but he tries to quash rumors of planned meetings.
During the launch of a WhatsApp emoji (the race car emoji now sports the colors of a Mercedes F1 car), the Austrian was asked by Reuters about the potential meeting, resulting in a noteworthy response: “No, that is one of the rumors,” he said, according to RacingNews365.
“People invent meetings, make up what happens with the drivers, but these things should happen behind closed doors, and everything that has been released was not really accurate.”
The ‘Not really’ part leaves much to the imagination – it’s neither a flat denial nor a confirmation.
He also addressed the story that top designer Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull, saying, “Adrian Newey is an iconic engineer in Formula 1 with a fantastic track record and again, there are so many people talking about what he might ultimately do and whether he leaves Red Bull or not,” said Wolff.
