Toto Wolff claimed he made a promise to Lewis Hamilton to not approach Max Verstappen for a move to Mercedes while the British driver was still at the team, in the latest season of Drive to Survive.
Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari for this season year was confirmed 12 months ago, on February 1 2024.
The move features prominently in the seventh season of the smash hit documentary series Drive to Survive, which is released on Netflix on March 8.
Wolff’s Verstappen revelation comes while discussing replacement options with his wife Susie Wolff, former Williams test driver and the boss of the F1 Academy series.
At one point, Susie asked: “You don’t think Max is an option?” Wolff then replies that Verstappen had been off the table until that point.
“I think he is,” Wolff replied. “I haven’t spoken to him because I promised Lewis I wouldn’t talk to him but I will have the conversation now.”
Hamilton and Verstappen’s 2021 title fight is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 seasons of all time, featuring multiple collisions and flashpoints between the drivers. Verstappen controversially beat Hamilton to the title at the final race of the season when FIA race director Michael Masi applied rules around a restart incorrectly.
In the scene, Wolff does not elaborate how far back the agreement with Hamilton went. The two also discussed Sainz, who Hamilton replaced, as an option. Sainz eventually moved to Williams.
They also discuss two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. “Fernando [Alonso], I mean, race pace, racecraft is still very good,” Toto Wolff said. Susie then remarks about the now-43 year old: “You’re not going to be starting a new era with a long contract with Fernando, it’s an interim.”
Mercedes opted to go to the other side of the age spectrum for Hamilton’s replacement, handing a rookie season to Italian wonderkid Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who starts the season at 18 years old.
