High-level meetings at Monza could affect the future of Max Verstappen in formula one.
Bild newspaper reports that the Red Bull driver’s father Jos met with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in the Mercedes motor home ahead of the Italian grand prix.
Also in the Monza paddock, and at the same time, Dr Helmut Marko and Christian Horner reportedly sat down in the Red Bull facility with Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda.
The implication is that, notwithstanding his 2018 and 2019 contract with Red Bull, the deeply frustrated Verstappen camp could be on the move to Mercedes.
Lauda insisted: "All the rumours are nonsense.
"The fact is that Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2019. Until 2020 there can be no change for him. He has to be there for another two years.
"Until then, so much can happen that it makes no sense for me to even talk about this topic," the Mercedes team chairman added.