Wolff laughed off report of alleged talks with Verstappen

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he had "quite a laugh" with Jos and Max Verstappen over a report alleging that he has been repeatedly calling the Red Bull driver.

Germany's Auto Bild recently quoted Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko as saying that Wolff has been in frequent contact with Verstappen and his father in the past few months, with Mercedes keeping tabs on the Dutchman's situation with his current team.

Queried on the subject in China, Verstappen dismissed the report, insisting that Wolff didn't even have his phone number, a fact Wolff himself confirmed.

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"We had quite a laugh about it all three of us," said the Mercedes boss in Shanghai.

"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.

Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2020, but it is believed the 21-year-old's deal with the Milton Keynes-based team includes a performance clause that could allow under specific conditions Verstappen's premature departure from his team.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, Wolff insisted he had no plans on courting Red Bull's charger.

"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," said Wolff.

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