SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called Max Verstappen's father, Jos, following the Mexican Grand Prix to advise the 19-year-old Red Bull driver not to do anything reckless that might affect the title battle.
Verstappen made contact with Nico Rosberg at the opening corner in Mexico, which offset the Mercedes driver's steering but ultimately saw both cars continue without major damage. With the result of the drivers' championship set to be decided between the Mercedes drivers at one the next two rounds, Wolff asked Verstappen Snr to warn his son against racing too hard with the two title contenders.
"Jos and I talk regularly and he knows that I'm a fan of Max," he told The Times. "My main message for Jos was that he should come to the races again because he seems be the only guy that Max really listens to and respects.
"And I also said to him that it would be bad for Max if he was remembered for deciding the world championship this year through a reckless move against one of our drivers. Everybody wants to see hard racing but, for the sake of Max and of our boys, an all-in move that could ultimately kill their championship aspirations is too much."
Asked on Thursday if he was worried that Verstappen's aggressive driving style could affect the outcome of the title battle, Rosberg said: "Fear? No, definitely not. And driving style? I think it's just important that we keep on discussing [the rules] because I think there's still room for progress in terms of getting continuity in the decisions and that's it.
"So it's something we need to keep going on with, keep discussing to see if we can make improvements there and that's it. It's not depending on one specific driver or not, so that would be good to do that."
Hamilton added: "I can only really comment on Max's driving as I have through the year. He's obviously a very talented kid and he's come in and... I'm calling him a kid because he's a kid to me, he's still below 20 and he's still got a lot to learn but he's obviously done a great job up until now and he's going to continue to grow and be a force to be reckoned with in Formula One."
After both Mercedes drivers had given their thoughts on Verstappen in the press conference, the 19-year-old joked: "I'm still negotiating with them, who's going to pay me the most. Yeah, so we'll see, we'll see on Sunday."