As is tradition, Mercedes organises a special media session with Wolff and representatives of the Dutch press at Zandvoort. In recent years, those roundtables have often produced some eye-catching comments, much to the amusement of Mercedes team members as well.

Two years ago at Zandvoort, for example, Wolff more or less confirmed Kimi Antonelli's F1 promotion, even though the formal announcement was not scheduled until a week later at Monza.

Last year, Wolff spoke openly about the talks with Verstappen over a potential move to Mercedes and caused some surprise when the subject turned to several AI-generated pictures of the pair. Wolff also joked about AI-generated images of himself and Verstappen, including explicit deepfakes circulating online.

At the start of this year’s conversation, Wolff clearly still remembered all those moments and laughed: “You know, let me get into the groove and then I'll give you a few punchlines!”

Dacia, Verstappen and "hero races" at the Nordschleife

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Wolff then addressed Verstappen’s new Red Bull deal. According to the Mercedes team principal, the chances of a move were greater last year than they have been over the past few months, something that already became clear in the spring.

During last year’s Dutch media session, Wolff said he felt their paths would cross at some point. Asked by Autosport whether Verstappen’s new Red Bull contract has definitively changed that feeling, Wolff clarified that, in his view, their paths are already crossing – just not in F1.

“Well, the paths have crossed already with the GT racing. I think when we jointly developed that programme a year and a half ago it seemed a long shot,” Wolff said. “It seemed to be a long shot because could Red Bull ever allow Max in a Mercedes GT3?

“But they were open-minded and we are thankful for that because the project has been a success, the Red Bull Mercedes project. We have this joint cooperation between the two brands and Max, and it is nice to see that it’s successful.”

#3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO: Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Lucas Auer

Photo by: Qian Jun / MB Media / Getty Images

Wolff then joked that Mercedes therefore gets Verstappen for what he considers the “real hero races” — the endurance events on the Nordschleife, with the Nurburgring 24 Hours as the absolute highlight.

“Exactly! You know, we have these things here in F1 with massive gravel traps and flat run-off zones. The real racing is where you go through the trees and up and downs over crests and blind corners. And against the Dacia!”

With those final words, Wolff is referring to Olli’s Garage Racing, which competes with a Dacia Logan in the iconic 24-hour race in the Green Hell.

After mentioning the Dacia, Wolff immediately turned to the press officer present, telling him that Mercedes should invite the Dacia crew to an actual F1 Grand Prix.

“No, seriously, they are heroes!” Wolff laughed. All of those things contribute to the magic of the Nordschleife, with Wolff enjoying seeing Verstappen behind the wheel of the Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3.

“You race against 150 cars on the Nordschleife in day and night, fog and rain, and ice. So obviously none of these races are 24 hours, but those are the real hero races.”

Could Verstappen ever get the same freedom at Mercedes?

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Whether Verstappen and Wolff’s paths will ever cross in F1 is something the latter does not dare to predict, if only because nobody knows what the driver market will look like in two or three years’ time.

“And what the future holds, I don't know, but the mindset is what I have just said. I don't know where the paths are going to cross. Will it be in karting, will it be in GTs, or will it be in F1 or some other joint projects in the future?

“I think that may happen one day, but maybe not necessarily with Max in a Mercedes Formula 1 car.”

The latter may not be necessary either, now that Mercedes already has its star of the future in Kimi Antonelli.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Another question is whether Verstappen would receive the same freedom to pursue outside racing projects at another F1 team.

“I think every team is different, but I think what I am trying to do is to identify what it is that makes the driver fast within our structure.

“What kind of framework do we need to provide to extract the best performance of the driver, and part of that is obviously the well-being. And that is something that I am very keen on as well.”

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