Toto Wolff admits he made a mistake by openly 'flirting' with Max Verstappen for a potential Mercedes move

Mercedes F1 CEO and team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that he made a mistake by openly 'flirting' with Max Verstappen for a potential move to the German team. The Austrian has claimed that the whole saga was "destabilizing" for all parties involved in the talks.

Mercedes finally announced on Thursday that both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will drive for the team in 2026. This was somewhat of an open secret within the F1 paddock, with the announcement being expected ever since the summer break.

But before the summer break, things weren't as straightforward, as Toto Wolff was actively in talks with Max Verstappen to bring the reigning world champion to Mercedes as early as 2026. The 51-year-old made his interest in Verstappen fairly public, with even George Russell admitting that his team is negotiating with the Dutchman.

But after announcing Russell and Antonelli's contract extension, Wolff has now admitted that his 'flirting' with Verstappen was a mistake.

"The truth is, you've got to learn from the mistake. There wasn't any on-purpose flirting. It's just a coincidence. It was clear that you needed to have that conversation. We ended up in the same place in the summer, which obviously doesn't look good and is destabilising for everyone," Wolff said at the United States GP, while in conversation with Sky Sports. "But that's the past. Now, everything is cleared, contracts are signed, and we move forward. Kimi and George is what we want to do in the future and going forward. And it's a good line-up," he added.

Even now, Mercedes has only announced that both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will be driving for them in 2026, with no official word on their long-term future. This still leaves the door open for Max Verstappen if he fancies a move to the Silver Arrows in 2027, since he is tied down to Red Bull till 2026 anyway.

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Max Verstappen takes sprint pole at the F1 United States GP

Max Verstappen after grabbing the sprint pole at the US Grand Prix- Source: Getty

In other news, Max Verstappen has secured the pole for the United States GP Sprint on Friday, edging out McLaren's Lando Norris by less than a tenth of a second. Championship leader Oscar Piastri was almost a four-tenths off Verstappen and will start the Sprint from P3.

Speaking after the sprint qualifying on Friday, Verstappen shared that he was happy with claiming his third sprint pole at COTA.

"It's been a nice qualifying, throughout all the segments we were quite close, it was just about putting it all together, which is not easy when you go to the soft compounds," Verstappen reflected after the session.

The four-time world champion added that he is also looking forward to the sprint on Saturday, claiming that he will be focused on getting a good start ahead of the two McLarens.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar