Toto Wolff has responded to Red Bull's claim that Mercedes would attempt to block Alex Albon's move to Williams.
Red Bull has been working hard in the wings to try and secure a full-time seat for its reserve driver for 2022, with team boss Christian Horner saying Williams and Alfa Romeo have both expressed interest in Albon.
But in an interview with Sky F1 on Friday at Zandvoort, Horner said that he fears that Mercedes, which supplies its power units to Williams, would veto Albon's move to the Grove-based outfit.
The reason - and a valid one at that - why Wolff would frown upon Albon's transfer to Williams could be because his acquired knowledge of the Mercedes engine next year could be channeled back to Red Bull to whom Albon will likely remain contracted.
"We’re working hard to get him a seat," said Horner. "I really hope that Mercedes don’t block his opportunity at Williams. That’ll be a great, great shame.”
"Alfa Romeo and Williams are the two showing a lot of interest. I think his preference would be Williams but obviously there’s a few hurdles.
"He’s had about four phone calls telling him not to go there from the team next door [Mercedes]. I told him to ignore them."
Wolff, who is also trying to find an opportunity for one of Mercedes' own - Formula E world champion Nyck de Vries - to join the grid in 2022, denied that he would step in to prevent Albon from joining Williams.
"I would never block someone like Alex Albon," said the Mercedes boss. "He’s a fantastic guy, his personality is great.
"I was personally sad to see him going. And if he has [to be] driving in a Formula 1 car, I think that’s the right thing to do. But equally, maybe Nyck has.
"So we need to look at the open spaces at Alfa and at Williams and try to find a solution."
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