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.”
Following Lewis Hamilton’s announcement of his shock switch to Ferrari for F1 2025, Mercedes were persistently linked with a move for Verstappen throughout his fourth straight title-winning season last year.
With Verstappen under contract until the end of F1 2028, however, Mercedes eventually decided to sign teenage sensation as Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s successor.
With the length of Antonelli’s contract unspecified, and team-mate George Russell’s deal set to expire at the end of F1 2025, Mercedes are widely expected to renew their interest in Verstappen this year ahead of the F1 2026 rule changes, for which the team’s preparations are believed to be advanced.
Wolff has denied that Mercedes ever had a plan up their sleeve to tempt Verstappen away from Red Bull for F1 2025, with the driver happy at his current team.
He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “There was never a plan.
“We always talked and kept the line of communication open.
“At some point he said that he wanted to stay where he was for the time being because it felt right for him.
“And I said that we would go with Kimi because it also felt right for us.
“And now we’ll see where it takes us.”
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” potentially allowing him to leave the team before F1 2028.
A report by British newspaper the Times claimed that the rumoured exit clause will give Verstappen the freedom to walk away from Red Bull if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ Championship after a “significant” portion of the F1 2025 season has been completed.
If true, this would appear to mirror a clause widely reported to have been inserted in one of Verstappen’s previous Red Bull contracts.
Speaking to Sky Italy last September, Verstappen refused to confirm that his Red Bull contract contains an exit clause and insisted that he is “quite relaxed” over his future.
However, he hinted that he does have the power to “go elsewhere” if he chooses.
Verstappen said: “People talk a lot more about these things than I do.
“I am very relaxed I just think about driving and trying to understand my problems and improve. Then I go home and live my life.
“I am quite relaxed about the future. For me it’s very simple, I like what I do and as long as I enjoy it I will stay here and continue driving in F1.
“If I want to go elsewhere, I will go elsewhere. But at the moment it is not in my head.”
Asked directly if a clause in his contract could allow him to leave Red Bull before 2028, he replied: “Maybe yes or maybe no.
“Again, I don’t think about that at the moment, because there are so many things this year that I want to try to understand and do better than the years to come and what happens after that is still far away for me, so I don’t have it in my head at the moment.”
Mercedes previously emerged as F1’s dominant force following the introduction of the V6-hybrid engine rules in 2014, embarking upon an unprecedented spell of dominance.
The Brackley-based team stormed to a record eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships and seven Drivers’ titles split between Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg (one).
Mercedes have struggled to hit the same heights under the ground-effect regulations in place since 2022, with Hamilton and Russell restricted to just five wins between them over the last three seasons.
However, Mercedes’ engine expertise has been tipped to pay off in F1 2026 with some claiming that the team are approaching the sport’s new era – featuring sweeping changes to the chassis and power unit rules, including a move to 50 per cent electrification and the introduction of fully sustainable fuels – with a level of confidence similar to 2014.
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, who famously predicted Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes at the end of 2012, revealed last year that Mercedes have prepared a “fighting fund” to cover the costs of Verstappen’s salary.
Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan claimed Wolff met with Mercedes chief executive Ola Kallenius and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman and CEO of one-third Mercedes F1 team owner INEOS, to establish a plan of action to sign Verstappen.
He went on to assert that Verstappen was aware of the meeting in Monte Carlo, claiming it is reflects Mercedes’ commitment to landing the World Champion in the near future.
Jordan said: “In Monaco there was a meeting between Toto, Jim Ratcliffe of INEOS [and] Ola Kallenius and together they put together a fighting fund to cover off the possibility of a salary requirement to cover Max.
“Max was aware of it, I’m not actually sure he was at the meeting.
“But surely that gives some indication about the steely commitment by Toto and his team to actually get Max on board at some stage.
“We shouldn’t be surprised to see Max in a Mercedes car in the next years.”
