{"id":837758,"date":"2026-08-01T12:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837758\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:36:10","slug":"toto-wolff-makes-new-max-verstappen-admission-after-replace-drivers-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837758\/","title":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff makes new Max Verstappen admission after replace drivers threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toto Wolff said that Mercedes<\/a> is not afraid of forming a Max Verstappen<\/a> and Kimi Antonelli driver line-up one day.<\/p>\n

Wolff has consistently stated his satisfaction with Mercedes\u2019 current Antonelli and George Russell pairing. His Verstappen<\/a> and Antonelli admission comes after Wolff threatened to drop Antonelli or Russell should a title rivalry comparable to Lewis Hamilton versus Nico Rosberg break out between them.<\/p>\n

Mercedes would not \u2018shy from\u2019 Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli<\/p>\n

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The Mercedes F1 2026 title rivalry which was brewing between Antonelli and Russell \u2013 the firm wheel-to-wheel racing in Canada a memorable highlight \u2013 has cooled in recent rounds.<\/p>\n

Russell has fallen 59 points behind championship leader Antonelli, the Brit attributing his drop-off in results largely to gremlins in the Mercedes power unit.<\/p>\n

Should Russell work his way back into the title picture this season or beyond, then he and Antonelli have been warned.<\/p>\n

Wolff made it clear that he will not accept a repeat of the toxic Hamilton versus Rosberg rivalry. He would drop one of Russell or Antonelli before that happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s never going to happen to the team again. Simple,\u201d Wolff told RacingNews365.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just taking a driver out if he does that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps, Wolff has a Plan B should he ever feel the need to take such drastic action.<\/p>\n

The future of Verstappen at Red Bull continues to serve as a key talking point in Formula 1. Verstappen to McLaren is a rumour which has strengthened recently.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes talk has bubbled away, though Wolff\u2019s instance has been that the team is happy with Antonelli and Russell.<\/p>\n

But that does not mean that Wolff is ruling out signing Verstappen one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t shy away from having Max and Kimi in the team together at some point,\u201d he told Sky Germany.<\/p>\n

Antonelli has made great strides in F1 2026 to become the championship leader few had tipped him to be.<\/p>\n

The Italian has claimed six grand prix wins during the first-half of the season. He leads the standings<\/a> by 50 points from Ferrari\u2019s Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the lad is simply very good at taking on board and putting into practice the feedback he receives,\u201d Wolff said of Antonelli\u2019s rapid rise.<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

Helmut Marko delivers bleak Max Verstappen title verdict as Red Bull concerns grow<\/a><\/p>\n

Max Verstappen: \u2018We\u2019re not here to make TikToks, we\u2019re here to win\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the prospect of Antonelli one day uniting with Verstappen at Mercedes, Red Bull knows what it must do to keep its star driver, Verstappen having swerved the chance to affirm his continued Red Bull commitment.<\/p>\n

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies recently PlanetF1.com and others that \u201cMax has made clear to us that he wants to continue with the team. It\u2019s equally clear that he needs a fast car for him to be happy with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIf the car is back where we want it to be, there will be no discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next: Russell tipped to explore Audi move as Steiner makes F1 2028 prediction<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff said that Mercedes is not afraid of forming a Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli driver line-up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-837758","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-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837758","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=837758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}