Toto Wolff’s soured relationship with the Verstappen family is suddenly healing. In 2021, the racing rivals turned into bitter foes after Lewis Hamilton’s controversial British GP crash with Max Verstappen nearly ended the Dutchman’s career. An overambitious move on the 7x champ’s part on one of the world’s fastest racing corners, ‘Copse’, sent his championship rival flying into the barriers, causing a horrendous 51G crash. Verstappen was lucky to emerge unscathed, but the racing rivals became bitter foes.

Their relationship was never the same after that. “I hope Lewis is very happy with himself,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner post-race. However, at that time, Toto Wolff was consumed by the intense championship battle and an apology seemed the last thing from either party. But 3 years on, the Austrian regrets not contacting Max’s father, Jos, to check in on how he and the Verstappen family were holding up.

“We had a bad relationship for a period of time and it all started at Silverstone 2021,” Wolff told AD, as quoted by Soymotor. “That season took its toll on us. It was very intense and we felt like things weren’t right between us. Everything went wrong from Silverstone onwards, where I made a mistake. I didn’t call Jos on the day of the incident and I should have done,” he regrettably noted.

The Mercedes boss, who is a father to two sons, Benedict and Jack, and a daughter, Rosa, felt Jos Verstappen’s pain on that day. “I have a son who is a karter,” he added, referring to Jack. “So I know how it can feel as a parent at those times. I lost sight of it that day. This sport demands so much of you that sometimes you look at events with tunnel vision. That happened in 2021 and that was not good,” Wolff concluded.

Wolff’s relationship with the Verstappens dates back to 2014, even before Max made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso (now VCARB). The Red Bull-Mercedes rivalry might’ve dampened things, but they are right back where they left off before 2021. Moreover, the relationship is only set to become deeper.

Toto Wolff still hopeful of Max Verstappen jumping ship to Mercedes in 2026

Ever since the Christian Horner scandal and the following ‘power struggle’ derailed Red Bull’s peace, Toto Wolff has been exploiting it to lure Max Verstappen to replace Lewis Hamilton. His relentless ‘flirting’ with the Dutchman seemed never-ending, but it has finally ended. Verstappen won’t be at Mercedes in 2025, with Wolff accidentally confirming Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s employment.

But the Austrian hasn’t ruled out signing the reigning champ in 2026. “We’ve taken the decision for drivers for next year. This is what our full effort is going into. Hopefully, that’s going to be the lineup for 2026 and beyond,” he said, adding, “But that doesn’t close the door on Max being with us in ’26 or beyond, because we want to still keep all the options open in the same way he does.”

Speaking ahead of the Dutch GP, Wolff also settled the dust on his relationship with the Verstappens. He revealed how the father-son duo and Max’s manager Raymond Vermeulen have always been straightforward with him. The 2021 rivalry and the Silverstone crash were only blips in their otherwise stable relationship. Unless Hamilton & Verstappen are at loggerheads again in the second half of 2024, the status quo will be maintained.