Wolff: "We get on well with Jos Verstappen "

Despite an intense rivalry during the 2021 F1 season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff reckons that he gets on well with Jos Verstappen, father of the three-time F1 champion Max.

Ferrari made a shock announcement at the start of February, confirming the arrival of Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion was going to race for Mercedes until at least the end of the 2025 F1 season, but he activated an exit clause that allowed him to leave the Brackley-based outfit where he secured six of his seven F1 world titles.

Following the announcement of Hamilton's departure, Mercedes had been searching for the best replacement for the seven-time world champion. Ultimately, the German-British squad elected to sign Italian F2 sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been in the Mercedes' junior driver academy for several years.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has also been mentioned as a surprise replacement for Hamilton. Although the Dutchman has a multi-year contract with Red Bull, internal turmoil has led to instability inside the Milton Keynes-headquartered outfit, which fuelled speculation about Verstappen's possible shock departure.

Although Wolff's decision means that Mercedes' line-up is fixed for next year, the Austrian did not rule out the possibility of Verstappen joining the Brackley-based outfit.

“I think it feels natural now to go to the next generation. Max is a great driver and an interesting personality. God knows what happens in the future.

"But having Kimi and George in the car, homegrown, real Mercedes juniors, delivered every step of their career that we supported. I’m very much looking forward to that situation.”

Despite the intense rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the 2021 F1 season, Wolff stated he and Max's father, Jos Verstappen get along very well.

“We get on very well, not always in the visibility of the public eye. I’ve known Jos [Verstappen] for a long time. He’s my age. We have similar views on racing.

"I wouldn’t want the year 2021 to put any shadow on any personal relationship that we have. It was bad enough that year, but the relationships are intact," Wolff explained on the High Performance podcast.