Wolff has been flipping through the daisy… for months
When Lewis Hamilton made official his farewell to Mercedes in 2025 on February 1st, to join Ferrari, Toto Wolff he did not hide the fact that he was surprised by the decision of his most iconic driver and had suggested that he would take as long as necessary to find his replacement. As the weeks have gone by, some candidates have settled elsewhere (see Fernando Alonso), while others (like Carlos Sainz) seem on the verge of doing so, so it was thought that the list of possible candidates had been reduced to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a very young talent from the Mercedes Academy, and – sensationally – Max Verstappen, to whom Wolff is ruthlessly courting, reiterated in almost every interview.
Sainz back in contention
In an interview with the Spanish of Sports WorldToto Wolff has made several interesting statements regarding the future of the second Mercedes seat: “If you could choose between Verstappen and Leclerc? Leclerc is a Ferrari driver until 2028. While Verstappen… It is not clear. Let’s keep all options open. Max? We are not waiting for a driver, we never have. The goal is to have a faster car, that’s what we can control. I think it is very likely that Max could stay at Red Bull, but that doesn’t mean things can change.”
After having said in recent weeks that he had closed discussions with Sainz, given that the Spanish driver would have to wait until autumn, Wolff – surprisingly – reopened the discussion with the Ferrari driver: “With Carlos you can play it safe, especially if we have a competitive car, he could help us for the constructors’ championship. There are many arguments in his favor. I want to take all the time necessary to decide and keep all the options open for as long as possible. When we spoke I told him I wasn’t sure he could wait for us, because I don’t want to make a decision in a hurry. But Sainz is still a possibility, obviously he has to decide what to do with the other teams.”
Since the interview was given to the Spanish press, the question about Fernando Alonso: “Of course we took that into consideration.” – Wolff said, adding -: “But at that time Fernando had no interest in driving for Mercedes. And on top of that he had a long-term contract with Aston Martin on the table. That’s the perception I had.”
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