Red Bull Responds to Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen's Meeting in F1 Paddock

Laurent Mekies from Red Bull has spoken out about the meeting between Toto Wolff and Jos Verstappen in the F1 paddock.

Red Bull Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, downplayed the significance of the meeting between Jos Verstappen and Toto Wolff.

Wolff, the Team Principal of Mercedes, was filmed having a serious discussion with Jos Verstappen outside the Silver Arrows motorhome in the Montreal paddock during media day on Thursday at the Canadian Grand Prix.

This meeting took place amidst ongoing speculation about Max Verstappen's future with Red Bull and Wolff's public attempts to approach and lure the four-time world champion.

Verstappen has been linked to Mercedes since Lewis Hamilton's surprise move to Ferrari for the 2025 season, with Wolff admitting he would be interested in recruiting the Dutch driver at some point.

With the balance of power shifting back to Mercedes as new F1 regulations are introduced this year, rumors of Verstappen's potential move have increased.

However, Mekies downplayed the significance of the public conversation between Wolff and Verstappen Sr.

'Although from the outside it may seem interesting, I think there was no particular intention behind it,' Mekies said during a press conference on Friday in Canada.

'If any of them wanted to chat, that would also be news. We always talk to Max and Jos.'

'It's very normal for them to talk to Toto. Max raced with Mercedes last week in GT3.

'I really don't think it was part of a plan to send a message.'

On Thursday, Verstappen hinted that he would stay in F1 if the proposed Power Unit changes for the 2027 season are approved.

When asked if the proposed engine changes would have a direct impact on Verstappen's future, Mekies replied: 'Max cares about the sport and the reason he is so vocal is that he really cares about Formula 1 as the pinnacle of motorsport.

'He wants to see qualifying at full speed and he wants to see the fastest drivers able to push the cars as hard as possible in the corners without losing lap time because of it.

'There is an openness from the stakeholders, from the FIA, from F1, from all the teams to say 'yes, we need to do something about it' and therefore I'm sure it has given him and all of us the motivation to see that we are all willing to take steps to improve it. I think that's important for the sport.'