F1 News
Wolff denies Max move: 'I don't even have Max Verstappen's phone number'
- Jake Williams-Smith
Toto Wolff has moved to deny any talks over Max Verstappen joining Mercedes in the near future. The Dutch driver had been the target of Wolff according to Red Bull motorsport advisor, Dr Helmut Marko.
According to Marko, Wolff had phoned Verstappen as well as his father, Jos, over a potential move to the Silver Arrows. The Mercedes boss himself however says the rumours are unfounded and added he didn't even have the 21-year-old's phone number.
"We had quite a laugh about it all three of us," Wolff told Motorsport.com.
"I haven't got Max's number and I've never spoken to him on the phone. As Max rightly said I've known Jos for a long time and I would consider him a friend.
"We talk about babies and go-karting and when do we put our babies in a go-kart together and which team are we going to set up.
"There is no talking about Max nor his contract. For the right reasons, Max is very committed to the Honda/Red Bull situation.
"We are committed to our drivers and we are not planning to engage in any sort of discussions and nor are Jos or Max, so I don't know where that came from."
Mercedes currently has Lewis Hamilton under contract until the conclusion of the 2020 season while teammate Valtteri Bottas looks set to remain at the team with Mercedes holding an option to extend his contract by a year to the end of 2020 also.