Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has put to bed the story of contact with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
Two weeks ago, it was Red Bull’s own motorsport advisor Helmut Marko who suggested the Dutchman did have a performance clause in his current deal and that he was in ‘regular’ touch with Wolff.
Both Max and father Jos quickly rubbished the claims and now the Austrian has had the final say.
“We had quite a laugh about it all three of us,” Wolff told Motorsport.com.
“I haven’t got Max’s number and I’ve never spoken to him on the phone. As Max rightly said I’ve known Jos for a long time and I would consider him a friend.
“We talk about babies and go-karting and when do we put our babies in a go-kart together and which team are we going to set up.”
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What did draw some interest to the story though is links between Verstappen and the Mercedes boss are not new.
In 2017, the youngster was reportedly in talks about a move before Red Bull offered him a new contract until the end of 2020.
Before then, in 2016, it was even reported Wolff had spoken to him before the Brazilian Grand Prix and warned not to interfere in the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
On this matter though…
“There is no talking about Max nor his contract,” Toto stated. “For the right reasons, Max is very committed to the Honda/Red Bull situation.
“We are committed to our drivers and we are not planning to engage in any sort of discussions and nor are Jos or Max, so I don’t know where that came from.”