Wolff sheds light on relationship with the Verstappen family

Written by Carl Hilliard, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff opened up on the relationship between himself and World Champion Max Verstappen & father Jos, after attempts to bring the Dutchman to his team.

Image Credit - Formula One

Amid the failure of bringing three time World Champion Verstappen to his team, Mercedes team principal Wolff shed some light on his relationship with the Dutchman and his immediate family. 

Ahead of the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Wolff revealed that he had held continuous meetings with Jos Verstappen and manager Raymond Vermeulen, in a bid to sign the number one driver to replace Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season.

Two key incidents highlight the relationship between Wolff and the Verstappens, the first being during the 2021 season, which saw Verstappen and Hamilton collide at Silverstone, sending the former to the hospital, and the latter to the race victory. Secondly, the 2021 championship was taken by Verstappen, pipping Hamilton to the last lap to claim a very controversial maiden title.

“I have gotten on with Jos for all my life,” Wolff admitted. “Maybe because we’re a bit similar. I think we had a very good relationship since Max became on the radar, racing single seaters.

“Where we had a moment was after Silverstone. That season really took some toll on all of us. It was so intense. Each of us felt that things weren’t right. 

Image Credit - Formula One

“Where it really went wrong is that I made a mistake after Silverstone,” Wolff continued. “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 on the whole situation, also because I was told in the pitlane that Max is fine.

“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 okay?’ because 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.

“So for, I would say for a year, and then obviously the disaster in Abu Dhabi - and the races leading up to Saudi Arabia, we weren’t in a good place, but we were kind of on the same wavelength in the years afterwards, so it went back into a good position and it is today, for the last couple of years, as good as it was at the beginning,” Wolff concluded.

Wolff has remained adamant that signing Verstappen in the wake of Hamilton’s 2025 Ferrari move is certainly not off the cards entirely, and has reinforced the fact that the relationship he holds with the Dutch driver is one of respect over anything.

“I think the rivalry over all those years, from 2017 onwards, was always healthy,” the Austrian boss added. “This is like rugby. You punch the other one in the nose on the field, but you’re able to then go to the pub and that is always how we maintain the relationships.”

“I’m not worried about them [Red Bull]. We are competitors. 

We try to beat each other. Sometimes it’s going to be hard, but that’s okay. I think 2021 was not the kind of racing you would want to have.”