Max Verstappen: Sacking Christian Horner makes no difference to my Red Bull future

Telegraph

2 days ago

Max Verstappen says Christian Horner's shock dismissal as Red Bull team principal has 'made no difference' to his decision over whether to stay at the team, adding 'only time will tell' if it is the right move on the part of the team's shareholders.
Speaking for the first time since Horner was abruptly informed by Red Bull's Austrian overlords that he had been 'released from his operational duties' after 20 trophy-laden years in charge, Verstappen mostly played a straight bat to questions about his former team principal.
The 27-year-old's future is understood to have been one of the key factors in Red Bull GmBH's decision to dismiss Horner, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff openly admitting in Austria last month that he was 'in discussions' with the Dutchman over the possibility of a future drive. It was therefore significant that Verstappen refused to guarantee that he would line up in Red Bull colours next season, albeit he is widely expected to stay on for at least one more year.
There is believed to be an option in Verstappen's contract allowing him to leave should he fall out of the top three in the drivers' championship before the summer break.
Verstappen, in third, currently leads Russell, in fourth, by 18 points with only this weekend's race in Belgium, and next weekend's race in Hungary, to come before F1's summer shutdown.
What did Verstappen say?
Verstappen could have been forgiven for feeling a little miffed as he arrived for what was an even larger than usual media scrum in Belgium.
No one from Red Bull Austria has yet given a reason for Horner's dismissal, meaning he and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had to face a barrage of questions before the company's senior management, Red Bull GMbH chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, had even explained themselves.
That said, the Dutch driver is a safe pair of hands and he would have expected every question which was thrown at him.
Verstappen said he had been informed by the shareholders of their decision 'half a day' before the news was made public, which he said was 'normal', adding that he had had no input and was neither surprised nor unsurprised.
'At the end of the day, they run the team,' he said. 'And I'm the driver, so whatever they decide, it's fully in their rights to do what they want. I think in this world, things like this can happen.'
Verstappen conceded that the team's extraordinary success under Horner, the last 18 months had 'not gone how we would have liked' and the management 'wanted to steer the ship in a different direction'.
Verstappen was careful to thank Horner for his years of service – this will be his first ever race without the Englishman present – and said their relationship 'would not change'.
But he also said he was looking forward to working with his new team principal Laurent Mekies, saying his engineering background was interesting. 'Of course, I had already quite a few meetings with Laurent,' he said. 'The last two weeks have been quite intense for him to jump in. But yeah, I'm equally excited for the team now moving forward because that's what we have to do.
'I like Laurent. He's a very nice guy, first of all, a very clever guy. He's been in different areas of the F1 paddock as well. And I think that can be helpful.'
Asked about his father Jos' strained relationship with Horner, and whether the latter's dismissal removed at least one of the barriers to him staying with the team, Verstappen demurred. 'No, it doesn't really,' he said. 'I don't think it will matter at all for my decision in the future. The only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can make it.'
Verstappen also denied having met up with Wolff on holiday in Sardinia following reports their yachts were parked up next to each other. 'Well I was swimming in the ocean at the time,' he said. 'I don't really care about these things. I went on holiday with my friends, my family. And when other people also are there at the same time, yeah, that can happen. There are more people on the island than just me and Toto and the family. If you go to the same island, that can happen.'
Asked whether he had spoken to Horner and whether it had been the right decision to get rid of him, Verstappen said: 'Yeah, I did. It's great to speak to him and time will tell. I cannot say right now, you know, within two weeks of, not even action on the track, that suddenly everything is different or better. But we are trying to be better and we are trying to work on that.'
What didn't he say?
As is often the way with these press conferences, it was what was left unsaid which was arguably of more interest.
Following all the frenzied speculation about his future, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Verstappen to put to bed the rumours and confirm he was staying at Red Bull next season. But he chose not to.
'There is also a possibility I don't wake up tomorrow,' Verstappen replied when asked whether there was a possibility he might leave. 'So then there is no driving at all. Life is unpredictable. But in general, I'm very happy where I'm at. I hope…and that was still the target that we set out when we signed the new deal [which runs until 2028], that I would drive here until the end of my career.'
Verstappen also chose not to answer a direct question about his father's difficult relationship with Horner and whether that had been tricky for him for the last 18 months.
What is likely to happen?
As far as Verstappen's future is concerned, the jungle drums right now very much suggest he will stay for 2026 at least.
Although Verstappen refused to rule out a move for next season – and it would get very interesting if he does fall out of the top three this weekend or next– Wolff told Austrian broadcaster ORF this week that tying down his current drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli was the 'absolute priority' for him, playing down any 'big surprises' over the summer break.
Russell also sounded very relaxed about his future in his press conference on Thursday. Telegraph Sport has been told Russell may even get a multi-year deal which would be interesting in the context of any future move for Verstappen.