The times when Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen went for coffee together are over.
The relationship between Max Verstappen (and those around him) and Mercedes has been a little tense since 2021 at the latest, with escalations such as the collision at Silverstone or the World Cup thriller in Abu Dhabi.
Another chapter in this story was written in Baku when Verstappen and George Russell clashed on the track in an F1 sprint and Verstappen later called the Mercedes driver a “dickhead”.
In hindsight, Wolff doesn’t attach much importance to the choice of words: “A friendly exchange between two drivers adds to the entertainment. So irrelevant,” he grins.
Wolff doesn’t blame Verstappen for the reaction: “They’re all pissed off when they lose. If your team-mate wins and you finish third because you’re lacking performance because of a hole in the car, you’re obviously angry.”
“Everyone lets it out in a different way. As long as you’re authentic about it, that’s good, and Max is very straightforward. An hour later he’s forgotten about it. It’s all good.”
For Wolff, the analysis of the collision goes like this: Verstappen tried to hold the position on the outside. “It’s not an easy position for that,” he says. His anger is understandable, but so is Russell’s behavior: “It’s clear that nobody is giving in, and I guess it’s not the first time that the two have had a situation like this.”
Formula 1 experts: Verstappen does not taste his own medicine
In the analysis after the F1 sprint, experts such as Damon Hill said that Verstappen may have reacted so sensitively because Russell unpacked the same nods that Verstappen would otherwise unpack, and he didn’t like that.
Question to Toto Wolff: Does Max drive harder against Mercedes drivers than against others? The Austrian thinks for a moment and replies: “No. Max drives differently against Lewis.”
In his opinion, the situation with Russell in Baku does not fall into this category: “They come from the same generation of drivers. They fight hard among themselves, but they also know each other well. The two of them probably already had this situation when they were ten years old and Karting. That’s part of racing.”
Toto Wolff: That’s how he sees the question of guilt
And who was to blame for the collision? “I don’t know if it was 70:30 or 60:40 or 50:50. But somewhere in the region,” says Wolff.
“If I’m George, I’ll do the same. If I’m Max, I’ll be angry too. It’s always risky on the outside because you’ll either be pushed off the road or you’ll end up in the wall if you’re not straight on the inside have a very weak opponent,” analyzes Wolff.
And: “If you drive on the inside, you have to create a fairly acute angle. If you turn in hard, you will lack speed on the next straight.”