Toto Wolff has dismissed Red Bull chief Oliver Mintzlaff’s criticism of the Mercedes team principal’s luring initiatives towards Max Verstappen, insisting it has “no relevance”.
In an interview with Germany’s Bild am Sonntag published last weekend, Mintzlaff took offense to Wolff's public courting of Verstappen, suggesting Wolff should "concentrate on his challenges" and respect existing contracts.
This was a clear shot at Wolff’s comments hinting at a potential future for Verstappen at Mercedes.
Wolff, however, remained unfazed. He dismissed Mintzlaff's remarks as irrelevant, suggesting they weren't worth his time or energy.
"I don't know what this guy is commenting on," said Wolff in Miami. "It has no relevance for me."
Ahead of last weekend’s round of racing in Florida, reports emerged that Mercedes had a meeting planned with the Verstappen camp to discuss a possible future contract.
Wolff has since denied the story, but the Austrian is keeping his ear to the ground when it comes to F1’s drive market.
While it's still too early to solidify plans for their second driver in 2025, Mercedes is clearly keeping its options open, including the possibility of luring Verstappen away from Red Bull.
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"There's always plenty of meetings," Wolff said, referring to last weekend’s speculation.
"I can't really say [anything definite] about the second driver. I think we've talked about the possibilities, and I want to be fair to these guys and not make it look like we are playing chess with humans because we are not doing that.
"We want to take our time, see where Max's thinking goes and, at the same time, monitor the other drivers.
"Carlos [Sainz] was very strong today again and that's why we are a little bit on observation mode at the moment."
The Ferrari driver is reportedly at the top of Audi’s list of contenders for its upcoming F1 project, and for which it has already signed Nico Hulkenberg. But Sainz remains a driver of interest for Mercedes.
Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Last weekend, rumors were swirling that Mercedes protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli was set to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams and make his F1 debut at next week’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
But Wolff immediately rubbished such a scenario, insisting that Antonelli’s campaign this year in the FIA Formula Championship remained his priority.
"So many stories were created, and it doesn't do him any favours because he needs to concentrate on his F2 campaign," added the Mercedes F1 boss.
"He's doing lots of testing for us in order to bring him up to speed and I think this decision of the second driver is weeks if not months away. We didn't make any approach to the FIA about getting an earlier release."
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