Toto Wolff denies ‘flirting’ with Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc before Lewis Hamilton renewal
On Thursday, Mercedes announced that Hamilton and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell would form their F1 driver line-u♓p up until the end of 2025.
It ended all speculation about Hamilton’s future amid tentative l🅠inks to Ferrari throughout the season.
Leclerc was lin꧟ked with a move to Mercedes if Hamilton decided to switch to Ferrari or retire from F1 compl💟etely.
Speaking after FP1 at the Italian Grand Prix to Sky, Wolff explained why Mercedes didn’t entertain the idea of talk⛦ing to other drivers such as Verstappen or Leclerc.
"No. I’ve always said that when we renew, I don’t want to flirt outside if I have a good relationship, and only when I 😼see 💝that things are not going in the right direction then I would test the market, but I didn’t do it,” he said.
Hamilton has been outspoken i🉐n wanting to remain in F1 for many years to come - beyond his latest two-year deal.
Wolff shed li▨ght on why they only committed to two years, rather than a longer deal.
“Yes, we already signed in May but we didn’t tell anybody,” Wolff joked. “Keep a bit of suspense. In all seriousness we knew that we had an agreement, not only emotionally but on paper many weeks ago but it was just you getᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ lawyers on the case and they find stuff.
“I think it comes from, in a way both sides in this day and age, things change. This is a dynamic environment. Signing a five-year contract means that you need to discuss is there anܫy escape clause in case we are not providing🌟 him with a car that is performing.
"So we didn’t entertain that. We said the foreseeable future is two years and that’𒆙s what 🎐we are committing to each other.”
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor isꦐ the heartbeat of ouꦡr unbiased reporting.
