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When will Mercedes set a deadline for Verstappen and who will leave Mercedes?

16:17, 27 Jun

Updated: 16:40, 27 Jun

byTobia Elia

Toto Wolff has once again addressed one of the hottest talking points of recent weeks: the potential showdown between Max Verstappen and George Russell for the seat alongside Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes in 2026.

Speaking during the team principals’ press conference in Austria ahead of FP2, the Mercedes boss made a point of taking a clear stance on the matter: ''It is in the nature of the sport that you talk about people, whether they're in the car or in the factory or in the racetrack. Most important is to stay to your values. For me, that is being integral and humble about the situation, respectful of the people. That's what we are trying to do in the team''.

Adding more on a possible Verstappen-Russell's pairing, Wolff said: ''There are pros and cons of having two drivers fighting each other hard. We've seen examples where that functioned and other examples where it didn't. And when it comes to the contract situation, you know our sport is pressure, constant pressure. Whether you're in the car, outside of the car, you just need to cope with that''.

''And George knows that, like any other driver knows it. I feel that when you're being put in a comfort zone, sometimes that is actually more detrimental I feel that when you're being put in a comfort zone, sometimes that is actually more detrimental to performance than having a certain pressure point in the system''.

Who would leave Mercedes in case?

''You make it sound like that we have been asking when do you want to join and what are the terms. That's not how it is and how it works'', Wolff answered a question from GPblog.

''I come back to my previous question. I want to just have the conversations behind closed doors, not town halls. We have few drivers that have been in our program since a long time, drivers that I'm perfectly happy to have, drivers that will do great in the future of the team. So it's a bit different, the situation''.

Is Wolff flirting with Verstappen?

The key question was whether Wolff is truly flirting with Verstappen, to which the Austrian responded: ''Define flirting. No, it's nothing changed. There is no flirt in that sense. There is no flirt in that sense. You can flirt or you have conversations''.