Christian Horner wants 24-year old driver as Max Verstappen's replacement at Red Bull

Max Verstappen is being linked with a move away from Milton Keynes to join Mercedes, which would leave Red Bull with a seat left to be filled for the 2026 season. In the event the Dutchman chooses to join the Brackley-based squad, Red Bull supremo Christian Horner reveals that he wants current drivers' championship leader Oscar Piastri to fill in Verstappen's void at the team.

The 27-year-old has been under Red Bull's wings since 2014. He quickly moved to F1 in 2015 with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) and was promoted to the senior team in the subsequent year.

Since then, the Dutchman has won four world titles with 65 race wins and etched his name in F1 history with his impressive championship campaigns. Though Verstappen is the reigning world champion, his chances of winning the 2025 drivers' title have grown slimmer with each passing race weekend.

On the other hand, with Mercedes supposedly wanting to get him onboard, Red Bull might have to deal with driver troubles with its main seat, too. If worst comes to worst for the Austrian giant and Verstappen leaves for the German giant, Horner revealed that he would make a bid to hire Oscar Piastri as the Aussie has been on stellar form in the 2025 season:

"Yes, Oscar Piastri."

Max Verstappen joining Mercedes would mean either George Russell or Kimi Antonelli would be axed by the team's senior figures.

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Christian Horner blames George Russell for igniting Max Verstappen-Mercedes rumors

Christian Horner (L) and Max Verstappen (R) at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

Neither Russell nor Antonelli has a contract for the 2026 season with Mercedes. While both have performed brilliantly in the first half of the season, Toto Wolff's interest in snubbing Max Verstappen is supposedly delaying the pair's contract extension.

However, Christian Horner views the situation differently. The 51-year-old revealed how Verstappen's contract with Red Bull became a point of discussion after Russell's public comments, and said (via Racing News 365):

"The contracts between the drivers and the team are always going to remain confidential. And with any driver's contract, there is an element of performance mechanism and that exists within Max's contract. The absolute intention is that he will be there and driving for us in 2026. It's inevitable that he's of huge interest to any other team and in the pit lane."

"I think actually probably George [Russell] triggered all this speculation, probably trying to leverage his own situation and force clarity, which you can you can understand. He's driven a very good season as well this year. But inevitably, there will always be speculation about. I think most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team."

Mercedes sits third in the interim constructors' standings as Red Bull has slipped down to fourth, despite taking home two race wins.