Topless Max Verstappen spotted with Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff on luxury yacht amid Red Bull uncertainty
New images appear to show the four-time world champion chatting and laughing with the Mercedes boss off the coast of Sardinia.
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In the photos Verstappen is topless and wearing a white towel with stripes on and stood next to Wolff who is dressed head-to-toe in white.
F1 is currently on its summer break, with the next race not until August 31 in Zandvoort.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has also been spending some time near the Mediterranean island, though has not been pictured with Verstappen or Wolff.
Sardinia is a popular destination for F1 drivers and team principles, with Verstappen and Wolff both separately cruising off the coast there last month.
Verstappen's private jet was tracked touching down on the Italian island in the wake of Christian Horner's Red Bull sackingo on July 9.
Further tracking showed yachts owned by the four-time world champion and Wolff both off the coast of Sardinia before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Ahead of the summer break Verstappen confirmed he would be staying put at Red Bull.
The Dutchman had held talks with Mercedes over a potential move with Red Bull struggling again this season.
Merc boss Toto Wolff confirmed the talks at the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
Verstappen, 27, finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix in July, meaning he could no longer trigger a release clause that relied on him being outside of the top three going into the summer break.
Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner after Red Bull sacking
Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Dutchman said: "It's quite interesting to follow all that and the amount of nice stories that came out of it.
"But I've never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well.
"I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours.
"For me, it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway."
He continued: "That was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car.
"I think when you're not interested in staying, then you also stop talking about these kinds of things.
"And I never did."
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