Toto Wolff makes vow after Max Verstappen talks and awkward George Russell scenario

Toto Wolff has vowed to 'learn from his mistake' after publicly courting Max Verstappen throughout the 2025 season. The Austrian re-signed both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli to Mercedes ahead of the United States Grand Prix, but their new deals were clouded by an unsuccessful multi-month pursuit of another driver.

At the time of Christian Horner's departure in July, it looked as though Verstappen was leaning towards an exit from Red Bull. With neither of his drivers tied down, Wolff held meetings with the Dutchman's entourage and publicly endorsed his pursuit in front of the media.

However, Horner's exit, combined with a resurrection under new boss Laurent Mekies, restored Verstappen's faith in the team and ended Mercedes' hopes of bringing the four-time world champion to Brackley.

In doing so, however, Wolff left Russell visibly frustrated. The Norfolk-born star has been enjoying his own exceptional season and registered his second win of the campaign in Singapore. And yet, despite leading the team's charge every weekend, the 27-year-old was forced to spend every media day answering questions about his future.

"The truth is, you've got to learn from the mistake," Wolff told Sky Sports F1 in Austin, addressing his handling of the Verstappen pursuit. "There wasn't any on-purpose flirting. It's just a coincidence. It was clear that you needed to have that conversation.

"We ended up in the same place in the summer, which obviously doesn't look good and is destabilising for everyone. But that's the past. Now, everything is cleared, contracts are signed, and we move forward."

While Wolff showed clear regret for his handling of the situation, he did not rule out a future move for Verstappen. With Russell now locked into a multi-year contract, Antonelli would be the driver fighting for his future in 2026.

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"It would certainly be good entertainment for everyone," he replied when asked about a future link-up between rivals Russell and Verstappen. "But we don't want to create any rumours here. Kimi and George is what we want to do in the future and going forward. And it's a good line-up."

Wolff is under no illusions that Antonelli's rookie season has been a difficult one, although he expects the teenager to take steps forward in 2026 after sampling each of the 24 Grands Prix on the schedule.

"You have five or six races to go - tracks that he doesn't know," he continued. "Austin is one of them. I'm sure we're going to see some very good results. We're going to see trickier sessions and trickier weekends. But all of that is being reset with the start of next season. He will have seen the tracks.

"The cars are new for every driver - that's a big factor. These guys have been around these cars for a while, and he will have seen how to best manage pressure from the media and all of the stakeholders. That was the aim for this season - to do exactly that."