Wolff: [Forget Max] I want to make it work with Russell and Antonelli

It's F1's worst-kept 'secret' that the Italian teenager is in line for the seat with Mercedes, despite his inexperience and youth, Antonelli turns 18 tomorrow (25 August), once Mercedes turned down a swap for Ferrari- reject Carlos Sainz and with no real heavy hitter (barring Max Verstappen) on the market, Wolff has Kimi top of his list.

Speaking to reporters on the fringes of the Dutch Grand Prix, when pressed to confirm his drivers for 2025 or 2026 for that matter, Wolff said: "Soon, we will confirm who is in the second seat. And what I also said is that the two drivers that are in the car have our full support, 100 per cent

"And therefore, I'm entering the season in 2025 with two drivers that we will be given all the opportunity to perform. And that's why I don't want to talk about the 2026 driver line-up at that stage because I want to make it work with George and Kimi," Wolff let slip. Inadvertently or not?

He also revealed that talks were held with 'Team Verstappen' amid Red Bull's headline-grabbing internal feud and the departure of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley.

Of his interest in Verstappen, Wolff told reporters at Zandvoort: "I thought all through the year that there was a window or that there was a possibility. It wasn't zero. It's pretty bumpy ground there still, and not only for performance reasons, but also because of interpersonal issues that we're all aware.

"By the way, I got on with Jos for all my life. But maybe because we're a bit similar. And that's why I thought the door was never completely closed.

"What were the odds of that happening? Maybe they were 10 to one. Nine to one. Still, I didn't want to give up, but then we together came to the conclusion over the summer that we shouldn't be waiting for something to happen before committing for 2025.

"Let's just continue our job, Max at Red Bull and here at Mercedes taking our own driver decisions," said Wolff, who knows that Verstappen is only contractually available in 2028. By then we will have long learnt if Antonelli lives up to the hype and if Russell is indeed a team leader.