After Lewis Hamilton's surprising switch to Ferrari for 2025 was announced at the beginning of the season, Max Verstappen has started to be linked to Mercedes as a hot candidate to take the seven-time world champion's place.

Meanwhile, Mercedes team leader Wolff saw the opportunity to leverage the growing tensions at Red Bull to try and convince Verstappen to leave the reigning champions and shuffle the cards a little bit more.

Ultimately, the seat went to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an 18-year-old star, who was confirmed during the Italian Grand Prix, to race alongside George Russell in 2025.

Even with that decision, Mercedes remained open to the possibility of Verstappen joining in 2026, a year that will bring significant technical and rule changes, providing a ‘fresh start’ for many F1 teams.

However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shut down the speculation about this exciting transfer, addressing that the team's top priorities are now their own drivers and organization.

"We're sitting back,” Wolff told Autosport. 

“I think I've expressed it before, and we have a similar view also from Max's side: you've got to put faith in your drivers or in your team.

“You need to give it the maximum support you can to make it a success. 

“And only if things go really wrong, you will consider other opportunities.

He even compared his efforts to get Verstappen to sign with Mercedes to 'flirting outside of a relationship'.

“For me, it's like flirting outside whilst you're making your relationship work. It doesn't work, I'm not flirting outside.

“Only if I want to have a change, or consider a change, I would seek a conversation. 

"It is the same on [Verstappen's] side. We're pretty aligned in our values on that I think,” Wolf concluded.

Heading into the last 6 races of the season, Mercedes occupies fourth place in the constructor's standings, falling 112 points behind third-place Ferrari and 187 points behind the leading McLaren.