{"id":22557,"date":"2025-07-26T02:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T02:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/22557\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T02:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T02:20:12","slug":"f1-news-wolff-says-russell-and-verstappen-would-be-a-prost-senna-pairing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/22557\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: Wolff says Russell and Verstappen would be a ‘Prost-Senna pairing’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wolff
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tToto Wolff compared a Max Verstappen-George Russell pairing to that of Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after opening practice at Spa, Wolff said there was a \u201cvery high probability\u201d the current pairing would stay in place for next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the largest of probabilities \u2014 if not, nothing is 100% \u2014 that this is going to be the line for next year,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cI want to stay with Kimi and George as it stands. Everything else is not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he acknowledged the appeal of a blockbuster pairing, adding: \u201cBut obviously you have a Russell\/Verstappen lineup that\u2019s Prost\/Senna I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the strongest public statement yet from the Mercedes team boss amid ongoing rumours surrounding Verstappen\u2019s future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wolff admitted earlier this year that he was monitoring the Red Bull star\u2019s situation and reiterated that stance at Spa, saying it would be \u201cirresponsible\u201d not to explore Verstappen\u2019s availability for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to explore what Max is going to do in the next two years. Not only next year,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cDrivers will always seek the quickest car much more than any monetary incentives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWATCH: Supercars stars in Supercheap Auto \u2018Police Chase\u2019 Click here<\/a> <\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s future has come under scrutiny amid internal tensions at Red Bull, with Christian Horner\u2019s recent departure from the paddock fuelling talk of a potential exit. Mercedes is widely viewed as the most likely landing spot should Verstappen make a shock move.<\/p>\n

Wolff\u2019s open flirtation with the idea of pairing Verstappen with Russell has raised eyebrows in the paddock, especially with Mercedes yet to formally announce Russell\u2019s contract extension.<\/p>\n

But Wolff downplayed suggestions of any friction, insisting the delay wasn\u2019t about money or performance, and hinted that Russell\u2019s recent public comments may have simply brought the conversation forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to him, listen, I have the obligation of exploring what Max is going to do,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cAnd I think he just came out with it wanting to show that I\u2019m aware of what\u2019s going on. There\u2019s nothing happening behind my back and I\u2019m fine with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolff also praised Russell\u2019s consistency and maturity, saying he hoped the Briton would have clarity over the summer break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would wish to have him in a safe safe place a little bit earlier,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t managed to do that now, but I\u2019m optimistic that he\u2019s going to sleep well over the summer break.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff compared a Max Verstappen-George Russell pairing to that of Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost. Image: XPB Images Speaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,3875,10115,825,945,22708,9910,85,4703],"class_list":["post-22557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes","tag-slot1_f1","tag-slot2","tag-sports","tag-toto-wolff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}