Mercedes and Verstappen 'keep open communication' over future move - Wolff

Mercedes squad main Toto Wolff says he has an "open connection channel" pinch Max Verstappen regarding a imaginable early pinch nan team.

Wolff has abandoned hopes of signing nan Red Bull driver for adjacent season, and Mercedes are expected to corroborate soon that Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli will title adjacent play alongside George Russell.

But successful an exclusive question and reply pinch BBC Sport, Wolff said he had talks this twelvemonth pinch Verstappen and his guidance astir a move for adjacent season.

He admits it was a "long shot" but said he made nan attack because "there was not a zero possibility" successful nan aftermath of nan disruption astatine Red Bull - pursuing allegations of intersexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour made against squad main Christian Horner by a female employee.

"Red Bull was nan ascendant car astatine nan opening of nan season," Wolff says. "And that changed a bit. It's Max Verstappen ascendant astatine nan moment.

"And nan relationships were dysfunctional. I'm not judge they are backmost successful a awesome place, but it is what it is. There was a moment, aliases location was an opportunity, to astatine slightest person conversations of what it could beryllium successful nan future, and this is what we did."

These talks took spot contempt nan truth Verstappen is nether statement astatine Red Bull until nan extremity of 2028.

Verstappen's begetter Jos, an integral portion of nan driver's guidance team, remains successful conflict pinch Horner - who has been cleared by 2 soul Red Bull investigations which dismissed nan title against him.

At nan Dutch Grand Prix past weekend, Max Verstappen said he "gets connected very good pinch Toto - he's very unfastened astir what's happening wrong his team". And nan three-time world champion said location was "nothing wrong" pinch Wolff discussing publically his liking successful him.

Asked whether Verstappen could subordinate Mercedes for 2026, Wolff said: "Much excessively early. For nan use of our drivers adjacent year, I don't want to person immoderate speech astir 2026 aliases beyond, because we very overmuch dream that nan 2025 line-up will beryllium nan line-up going forward."

And asked whether he and nan Verstappens had agreed to revisit their talks, he said: "We person not fixed each different any, let's say, timings. It is much like, support nan connection transmission open, while knowing that his privilege is to make it usability pinch Red Bull and our privilege will beryllium to make it usability pinch nan 2 drivers we have."

The acceptance that Verstappen will not subordinate Mercedes adjacent twelvemonth has switched Wolff to his scheme B for a driver to partner Russell, pursuing Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari.

Antonelli - who has conscionable turned 18 and is successful his first play successful Formula 2, wherever he has won 2 races - has been a Mercedes young driver since he was 11, and has been doing an extended trial programme this twelvemonth successful cars from erstwhile seasons to hole him for F1. That mentation continues connected Friday, erstwhile he will make his title play debut by driving successful first believe astatine nan Italian Grand Prix.

Wolff would not corroborate that Antonelli has nan 2025 spot successful our interview, but it's very clear that is nan guidance of travel.

Asked why he would not wait, springiness Antonelli much clip successful F2, aliases find him a spot successful a little high-profile F1 team, arsenic he did pinch Russell for 3 years astatine Williams, Wolff says: "Without pre-empting excessively overmuch astir adjacent year's drivers, successful a way, erstwhile specified talent comes up, it's not correct either to parkland someone, aliases spot personification pinch different team.

"With George it was astir apt a twelvemonth excessively agelong pinch Williams. But past besides we didn't really person immoderate abstraction before.

"Let's spot what happens, but successful a measurement I deliberation we took nan correct determination for nan use of Lewis, nan team's benefit, Kimi. It feels right."

Antonelli is regarded arsenic perchance nan hottest talent extracurricular F1, and he was fast-tracked into F2 this season, bypassing Formula 3. Will he beryllium ready, assuming he is chosen?

"You will only find retired if personification is fresh for F1 erstwhile you propulsion them successful nan acold water," Wolff says. "I deliberation Kimi is prepared. We are doing nan utmost to springiness him testing days.

"We are not sitting pinch him successful nan car. He needs to do it. He has nan talent, nan intelligence, nan ability, each of it to do it well. And we request to supply an environment, if he was successful nan car, wherever he tin study and develop.

"You've sewage to springiness young drivers time. George is simply a formidable driver, 1 of nan best. You can't expect an 18-year-old to beryllium successful nan car and outperform him. That's not going to happen. Impossible.

"And that’s why we request to make judge nan property - particularly successful Italy - wouldn't beryllium putting excessively overmuch unit connected him."

It was Wolff's belief successful Antonelli which triggered nan process that led to Hamilton joining Ferrari.

Knowing Antonelli was not acold from being fresh for F1, Wolff initially offered Hamilton only a one-year woody erstwhile they were negotiating a caller statement past summer.

In nan end, they compromised connected what is known arsenic a "one positive one" - a patient woody for 2024, and an action to time off if Hamilton wanted successful 2025.

After talks pinch Ferrari successful nan winter, Hamilton decided to move - earning a longer statement and a important jump successful salary. Does Wolff person immoderate regrets astir nan decisions that led to Hamilton leaving?

"No," he says. "We decided arsenic a squad for that and we were ever very transparent pinch Lewis and nan bully point pinch him is he is capable to put himself successful your position and understood wherever we were coming from.

"So successful that respect location are nary bad feelings, location is nary betrayal.

"It was besides for nan bully of him to change. This was nan longest tally betwixt a driver and a team. It was 12 years overall. And possibly he needed to, successful a way, alteration and reinvent himself.

"Being a driver for Ferrari is super-prestigious. Maybe for america arsenic a squad besides it is important to emancipate ourselves and spell successful a different direction."

The determination does mean, though, that Mercedes and Hamilton will nary longer beryllium capable to avenge what they spot arsenic nan injustice of Abu Dhabi 2021.

In nan last title of that championship, aft a bitter year-long conflict betwixt Hamilton and Verstappen, title head Michael Masi grounded to instrumentality nan rules correctly during a precocious safety-car period.

Under unit from Red Bull - and a desire for nan title not to decorativeness nether a information car - Masi made a bid of decisions that bypassed nan rules and led straight to Verstappen passing Hamilton connected nan last thigh of nan title to triumph nan championship, erstwhile earlier nan information car nan Briton was connected way to go champion.

For a agelong clip Wolff and Hamilton were bitter astir that, and Hamilton is still powerfully motivated to triumph an eighth world title that he believes he should already have.

How does Wolff consciousness astir nan truth that his and Hamilton's communicative will extremity without nan chance to triumph that eighth title together?

"You person to look astatine it from a constituent much detached than we do," he says. "He is nan top F1 driver of each time. He has beaten each nan records and location is only this one, pinch championships, wherever he is adjacent pinch Michael Schumacher, different awesome - if not, pinch Lewis, nan top driver. So it is what it is. And we can't alteration that.

"Would I person wanted it to spell nan different way? Absolutely. Do I deliberation what happened successful 2021 was anyplace adjacent fair? No, it wasn't. But we can't move backmost clip and location are worse things than losing a title aliases a World Championship. There is much play successful nan world retired there."

After 2 troubled seasons Mercedes person yet recovered their measurement backmost to nan winner's circle. Russell has taken 1 triumph - inherited aft Verstappen collided pinch Lando Norris' McLaren while disputing nan lead successful Austria - and Hamilton two, successful Britain and Belgium.

How person they yet done it?

Wolff says: "We ne'er mislaid religion that we would yet understand really we could extract much capacity from these very typical cars, ground-effect cars."

This twelvemonth started, if anything, worse than 2023 ended. Mercedes yet changed their car accuracy but were still uncompetitive. The breakthrough, Wolff says, came successful precocious spring, erstwhile they realised they were not operating their car successful nan correct way.

"We changed that and saw immoderate first moments of performance,” he says. "And past each of nan improvement successful nan mill was steered successful that direction, and this is nan results we’re seeing connected way today."

But why did it return truthful long?

"That’s a bully question. It's nan astir difficult athletics because it is nan relationship betwixt man and machine, and nan improvement is axenic science," Wolff says.

"After winning 8 world titles, possibly location were items we needed to alteration successful extrapolating and correlating data, and our title is formidable.

"We knew it was ne'er going to beryllium easy, and it's clear that nary sports squad successful nan world has won each azygous title they participated in, and nan results weren't what we thought. But it was still a 3rd and 2nd spot successful nan championship."

Towards nan extremity of Mercedes' tally of title success, Wolff was considering stepping backmost from his front-line domiciled arsenic squad principal.

But yet he changed his mind, and says he will beryllium astir for a bully while yet.

"I want to aftermath up astir of nan mornings and bask what I'm doing and going to nan races, and that emotion has travel back," he says.

"It wasn't location successful 2020. Interestingly that was our astir ascendant year. But I bask it now and I spot myself successful that domiciled for a while.

"Looking semipermanent and successful a fewer years, hopefully aft we've had much success, I would for illustration to remark from nan sidelines and criticise from nan outside, and possibly do 15 races and not 24. But that is still rather a fewer years away."