Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull Racing, refuted claims that Max Verstappen would want to leave the team, stating emphatically that Red Bull “haven`t suddenly become idiots overnight” amidst ongoing rumors linking the world champion to Mercedes.
This season, it appears unlikely that Verstappen will secure a fifth consecutive drivers` title. McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have established a strong position at the front of the field as the season approaches its midway point.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently confirmed he is in “conversations” regarding a potential move for Verstappen, despite the Dutch driver being under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028.
Following Verstappen`s unfortunate early retirement from the Austrian Grand Prix after a first-lap collision, Horner explained his belief that the 27-year-old driver still has confidence in the Red Bull team.
Horner stated, “I still believe that we have strength in depth in this team.”
“Unfortunately, we haven`t seen the performance that we would like. We`re at the end of a specific regulatory cycle. I think we are somewhat limited by some of the tools available to us,” he added.
“However, it`s the same core group of individuals who, just 18 months ago, designed a car that won almost every single grand prix. They didn`t just lose their abilities overnight.”
He also acknowledged McLaren`s current performance, saying, “You have to acknowledge the great job that McLaren are doing, and congratulations to them.”
Mercedes Have Their Own Problems
Toto Wolff had previously expressed interest in Verstappen after Lewis Hamilton`s confirmed move to Ferrari for 2025 but more recently suggested he was no longer pursuing the driver.
However, Mercedes driver George Russell hinted last Thursday that his own contract negotiations might be stalled while the team explores the possibility of signing Verstappen, comments which Wolff largely validated.
When asked about the significance of Red Bull`s poor result at their home race, particularly Yuki Tsunoda finishing last among classified runners, in the context of the speculation surrounding Verstappen, Horner replied, “I think they [Mercedes] have got their own problems. They were 62 seconds behind the race leader today.”
“For us, we just focus on ourselves. We know the situation with Max. We know the contracts with Max, and the rest is just external noise that isn`t originating from us,” Horner clarified.
Horner described Tsunoda`s race performance as “horrible” and confirmed that the team is investigating why Verstappen`s recent teammates have struggled significantly to match his pace.
“Yuki had a horrible race,” Horner reiterated.
“Again, things started going wrong for him in Q1 yesterday. His first run was fine, but on the second run, he made a mistake at Turn One, qualified poorly, got stuck in traffic, couldn`t overtake, and then received a penalty. It just compounded the issues,” he explained.
“Of course, we`ll look at how we can support him, but there`s a large difference between the two cars` performance. Naturally, internally, we`re asking all the same questions you likely are, trying to understand why. The car has obviously evolved in a specific direction over the years,” Horner noted.
“We`ll see if we can help Yuki regain his confidence at Silverstone.”
Is Verstappen`s Title Bid Over?
After being involved in a collision with Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap of Sunday`s race – an incident resulting in his first retirement in 32 races – Verstappen is now 61 points behind the championship leader.
For several races, Verstappen has commented that he didn`t feel genuinely involved in the title fight given McLaren`s strong form. After the damaging outcome on Sunday, he told Sky Sports F1, “Hopefully, then people will not mention it too much anymore.”
“We always try to do our best. My mentality doesn`t change. We`ve won a lot in the past,” Verstappen said.
“Sometimes you have to accept that you are not winning, and we just try to do the best that we can.”
