"Toto's Love Story continues": Fans react to the Mercedes boss' impassioned praise of Max Verstappen

F1 Fans were left reeling after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff praised the Red Bull driver Max Verstappen following his victory in the 2025 Italian Grand Prix. The Dutch driver dominated the field as he came home to claim his third victory of the season.

The four-time F1 World champion started the race from pole position but had to his slot on the opening lap after he cut the corner to defend his position against McLaren driver Lando Norris. However, it did not take long for the Dutchman to reclaim his race lead once again and went on to have a substantial hold of the proceedings.

At the end of the race in Monza, Max Verstappen had a gap of over 19 seconds to the British driver to win his 66th race in the sport. Speaking with Motorsport.com, Toto Wolff was full of praise for the Red Bull driver's performance and said:

"Today, one driver made everyone else look silly. They really need to ask themselves what he’s doing differently. Overall, we weren’t competitive over the weekend. Fifth and eighth place are absolutely not satisfactory."

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Wolff's comments about Max Verstappen on X, with one fan claiming:

"Toto's Love story continues."

"Hello, this is Toto. Come on my ship, Max, for a small schnapps and a new contract,"

"Bro is not even trying to hide anymore; he's in love with Max. Poor George,"

Here are some more reactions:

"Toto doing some flirting."

"Toto is glazing max at every opportunity. He wants Max at Merc so bad, and he isn't bothering to hide it anymore."

"Respect from Toto for Max!"

Some reports linked Max Verstappen to a potential move to Mercedes for the 2026 season, but the former denied these claims and affirmed his future with the Austrian team.

Max Verstappen expresses his excitement following another win in Monza

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he was much happier with his RB 21 throughout the Italian Grand Prix weekend, as he believed that the car was doing what he asked during the main race.

In his post-race press conference, the 27-year-old analyzed and said:

"The car was doing a little bit more of what I liked. It just seems like this weekend has been another step forward with the behaviour of the car and that also then shows in the race, I think.

"So that was a big positive for us. Of course, McLaren stayed out to try and gamble for the Safety Car, and I think that's why the gap is a little bit bigger than it should have been. But still, for us, an incredible weekend."

Max Verstappen also completed the Italian double for the second time in his career after he won Imola and Monza in the same year, repeating his exploits from 2022.

About the author

Devang is a Formula 1 and NASCAR journalist at Sportskeeda with 3500+ articles and over 5 million reads under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has a total experience of 3.5 years.

To keep up with the sport’s developments, Devang watches every single session and comes up with unique angles for the stories, from the readers’ perspective, using his expertise in the field. He strives to report accurate, ethical and relevant data by reading information from verified sources in the field, ones that are also trusted by industry experts.

Currently, his favorite drivers on the grid are Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo; he is particularly impressed by how the two drivers rarely lose their cool and approach everything with a smile on their faces. He classifies himself as a ‘Tifosi’ and is a Charles Leclerc fan.

Devang is a sports buff and when he is away from his keyboard, he watches other sports like cricket, tennis, badminton, and football, to name a few.

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Edited by Devang Chauhan