Toto Wolff has revealed that a meeting with Max Verstappen's management over the summer break persuaded him to suspend his pursuit of signing the three-time world champion on a contract for 2025.
Lewis Hamilton is set to leave Mercedes next year, creating a vacancy alongside George Russell at the team that is expected to be filled by junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Earlier this season, Wolff made no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen for 2025 -- a prospect that always seemed unlikely but one that gathered momentum amid infighting among Red Bull's senior management.
Speaking to Dutch media ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, Wolff revealed that meetings with Verstappen's father, Jos, and manager, Raymond Vermeulen, led to an agreement that a deal would not be possible for 2025.
"I thought all through the year that there was a window or that there was a possibility -- it wasn't zero," Wolff was quoted by Motorsport.com.
"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, but let's just continue our job, Max at Red Bull and here at Mercedes taking our own driver decisions.
"And that was a kind of joint thought."
Wolff said a decision had already been made on Mercedes' driver lineup for 2025, but he left the door open to Verstappen joining from 2026 onwards.
"What I like with Max, Raymond and Jos is that we talk straight," Wolff added. "We don't need to push each other. We have been in this too long; we've taken the decision for drivers for next year. This is what our full effort is going into.
"Hopefully that's going to be the lineup for 2026 and beyond. But that doesn't close the door on Max being with us in '26 or beyond, because we want to still keep all the options open in the same way he does. So what I enjoyed in our conversations is there is never a hidden agenda."
When Verstappen was asked after Saturday's qualifying session at Zandvoort whether he had been involved in the meeting between Wolff and his management, he said: "I don't remember."
But Verstappen said he had no problem with Wolff speaking publicly about him.
"No. I mean everyone can say what they want. I get along very well with Toto. I think he's open about what's happening within the team, also I think with the driver lineup and stuff.
"There's nothing wrong with that. At the same time, I just focus on my job -- there's a lot to do anyway. We just focus on that."