Wolff opens up on relationship with the Verstappens and a 2021 regret

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has given an insight into his relationship with Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen after revealing he failed to lure the Dutchman from his Formula 1 rivals.

Wolff explained ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix that he had continued to hold meetings with Verstappen’s father Jos and manager Raymond Vermeulen over the summer in the hope of signing him to become Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at the Silver Arrows.

His long-term pursuit of Verstappen could be born from his frustration at missing out on offering him a place at Mercedes in 2014, when the team had just started its purple patch of form. Wolff opted to retain Nico Rosberg and Hamilton, with the former quitting the team two years later having won the title.

However, the Verstappen-Wolff friendship has not been an entirely smooth ride, most notably in 2021 when Verstappen took the title against Hamilton in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi finale.

But there was another flashpoint in the relationship after that season’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Hamilton and Verstappen clashed on the opening lap, leaving the Dutchman in hospital while the Briton took the chequered flag.

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

“Probably our meeting in my living room in Vienna [before Verstappen agreed to join Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso – now RB – in 2015] was the first big Formula 1 meeting they did and we had always the understanding of how things should work for them and for us.

“I think that respect for each other always stayed. 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.

“Where it really went wrong is that I made a mistake after Silverstone, 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 and there is nothing [no injuries].

“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…