Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has dismissed suggestions the Silver Arrows considered Max Verstappen as a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen will join Mercedes with Lando Norris replacing him at Red Bull in the latest F1 2026 driver market predictions.

Toto Wolff has revealed that there was ‘never a plan’ to bring Max Verstappen into Mercedes for the 2025 season, but admitted that the two parties ‘always talked’ during Red Bull ’s period of internal turmoil in 2024.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has insisted that there was “never a plan” to sign Max Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton’s successor for the F1 2025 season. And he claims that Verstappen informed him last year of his decision to stay at Red Bull for the foreseeable future as it feels “right for him.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed he had never planned to sign Max Verstappen despite his public flirting with the four-time F1 world champion. Wolff courted Verstappen throughout 2024 as he looked for a possible Lewis Hamilton replacement.

When Red Bull ’s form dipped, and internal relations between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko frayed in 2024, Verstappen’s future was placed into question. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff went public with his attempts to lure the 27-year-old to his squad, while Aston Martin were also reportedly interested in signing him.

Getting under the cost cap is not an easy task for everyone on the Formula One grid. Speaking to Auto, Motor und Sport, team principal Toto Wolff explained that Mercedes were close to the red line.