Max Verstappen remains non-committal regarding whether his team engaged in in-depth discussions with Mercedes about a potential partnership during the summer break.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff humorously remarked that he performed "somersaults" in August while trying to persuade the three-time world champion, his father Jos, and his co-manager Raymond Vermeulen to consider leaving Red Bull as soon as 2025.
"We always kept the communication going," Wolff said, "and have always been honest with each other, talking about what makes sense and what doesn't."
"At some point we concluded that we'll leave it for now and see what happens in the future. I want to focus on George Russell and - oh, I'm almost saying his name again - on our drivers for next year," he smiled, clearly referencing Kimi Antonelli.
When questioned about the alleged meeting with Wolff in August, Verstappen replied at Zandvoort: "What meeting? I don't remember."
Red Bull's current boss, Christian Horner, suggested that with Antonelli all but confirmed to replace Lewis Hamilton next year, Wolff should now refrain from commenting on Verstappen.
Asked whether he agrees with Horner's view, Verstappen stated: "No, everyone can say what they want. And I get on very well with Toto. And at the same time, I just focus on my job."
The relationship between Wolff and the Verstappen camp wasn't always cordial. Back in 2021, tensions peaked during the highly competitive title fight with Hamilton.
"It was mainly because of what happened in Silverstone," Wolff remarked, recalling the fallout from Verstappen's high-speed collision with Hamilton and his subsequent brief hospitalisation. "I made a mistake there," the Austrian admitted.
"I didn't call Jos the same day to ask how Max was doing," Wolff mentioned. "That's what I would have always done in the years before."
"Our relationship was not ok for a year, also because of the drama in Abu Dhabi. But it is back to how it used to be."
Nonetheless, Wolff has currently placed the Verstappen endeavour on hold, with an official announcement regarding Antonelli's 2025 contract expected at Monza in less than a week.
"I'm having some problems with my communications team," Wolff laughed, "because I keep saying too much. The announcement will come soon, and Italy is a good place for that."
Wolff will also continue to monitor Verstappen's situation at Red Bull, "and not just in terms of performance," he explained. "It's still a pretty unsettled place there, also because of the interpersonal problems that we all know about."
For his home Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, Verstappen qualified more than three-tenths of a second behind McLaren's Lando Norris. "Oversteer and understeer," the Dutch driver explained to Viaplay. "It was also all in different places on the track."
"It was always different in all the runs, so that was fun. And I'm being sarcastic," added the 26-year-old. "It's not going to magically get better, so I'll do my best."
