Toto Wolff has sharply countered the statements of Oliver Mintzlaff, one of the overall CEOs of the Red Bull drinks company, following comments made about him in Miami.
Wolff has been openly pursuing Max Verstappen for a switch to Mercedes amidst the ongoing leadership tussle at Red Bull, prompting a public admonishment from Mintzlaff during his rare visit to the F1 paddock at the weekend.
"I understand the pressure that Toto Wolff and perhaps other teams are under after years of being second to none," Mintzlaff expressed to Bild am Sonntag. "But I think Mr Wolff should concentrate on his challenges. He has enough of them."
"It's also a matter of respect to keep talking about other teams' personnel. That is not appropriate," he further noted.
In a robust retort, Mercedes' Wolff stated, "I have no idea what the guy means with these statements. That's why it's unnecessary to comment," he said during an interview with Sky Deutschland in Miami.
Mintzlaff confidently stated that he is "1000 percent" sure Verstappen will remain with Red Bull next year, a claim Wolff mocked by saying, "A thousand percent? In life there is nothing more than 100 percent."
Speaking to Austrian broadcaster ORF, Wolff dismissed Mintzlaff's remarks once again, suggesting, "What he says has no relevance to me. Maybe he just wants to be on TV."
Interestingly, while clearly in dispute with Mintzlaff, Wolff indicated his new alignment with Red Bull's F1 consultant, Dr Helmut Marko, concerning the internal disputes and issues surrounding team principal Christian Horner.
"We are both Austrians and we stick together, even if there are sometimes strong differences of opinion," Wolff mentioned, after he was spotted in heated conversation with Marko in Miami.
"Let me just say that we have a common and very strong opinion on several things that have happened in recent months," he elaborated. "We just exchanged our ideas about that."
Wolff was also seen engaging with Red Bull's outgoing Adrian Newey in Miami. Asked to reveal the contents of their discussion, he simply responded, "No. He's a great guy. The track record he has in Formula 1 is incredible."
Regarding Verstappen, Wolff admitted that Mercedes is in a holding pattern with its 2025 driver lineup, stating, "We're waiting to see what Max does."
"But of course we're also keeping an eye on the other drivers," Wolff added, mentioning, "Carlos (Ferrari) is very fast as well. We're a little bit in observation mode."
"But it's not my decision. It's Max's."
Wolff anticipates that a decision regarding Verstappen will take "not days, but probably weeks or months".
