Jos Verstappen has been filmed talking to Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, as speculation lingers about his son Max’s Red Bull future.
Footage from Sky Sports showed the pair inside the Mercedes hospitality unit at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before the Canadian Grand Prix.
The pair’s meeting comes amid uncertainty about what Max Verstappen will do next year. The 28-year-old is an outspoken critic of F1’s new technical regulations in the electric-hybrid era. He has threatened to walk away from the sport and it has been mooted that he could quit Red Bull for another team. He has been linked with Mercedes.
The Red Bull driver has vowed he will “try to” return next year. But he said that the product on the track would influence his decision on what is next. The sight of his father talking with the Mercedes team principal will do little to quell rumours.
“I just want a good product in Formula One, and that will for sure improve the product,” the Red Bull driver told reporters before this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
He stopped short of an outright guarantee he would be on the grid next year, but his tone was notably more optimistic than in previous weeks.
“I always wanted to continue anyway, but I always wanted to see change. And I think the change that’s coming now is definitely very, very positive – or at least, almost back to normal.”
Lewis Hamilton also dismissed speculation on his future on Thursday and said he had a contract at Ferrari for 2027 and would be around for some time.
The seven-time world champion has yet to win a race for the Italian team since joining from Mercedes last year and will be 42 next January.
“I’m still under contract so everything’s 100 per cent clear to me,” the Briton told a press conference in Canada when asked about next season.
“I’m still focused, I’m still motivated. I still love what I do with all my heart and I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it.”
Hamilton added that there were “a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that’s not even in my thoughts”.
The Briton is the most successful F1 driver of all time with a record 105 wins and 104 pole positions.
The first of those victories came in Montreal in his debut season in 2007 with McLaren. His most recent was in Belgium in 2024.
“From the outside world, results are what people call success, but I think internally, for me, it’s just progress,” Hamilton said.
“If you’re progressing, then you’re succeeding. I don’t really put a lot of pressure on [myself].
“I’ve always said I’m really grateful for the records and those sorts of things, but they’re not things I ever think of.”