Max Verstappen fires a subtle shot at Christian Horner with a surprise claim about Red Bull's RB21

With Red Bull extracting hidden potential from the RB21, Max Verstappen has taken a subtle shot at the team's former boss, Christian Horner. Under Horner's leadership, the team had only won two races and was on a downward trend, a situation that has flipped upside down in the F1 sphere recently.

Horner left Red Bull after a shock breakup between the two parties, and the command of the team was handed over to Laurent Mekies. While it took some time for the squad to hit the ground running since the Frenchman's arrival, they have been at the front end of the field since the paddock returned from the summer break.

So, when asked about whether the performance potential was already present in the RB21, Verstappen told Autosport:

"That’s pretty clear, yes. But there’s nothing we can do about that now."

Moreover, when questioned about what had led to the sudden turnaround in the fortunes of the squad, the reigning champion took a slight jibe at his former boss, as he said:

"Nobody expected this to be honest. But of course, there are reasons why things are suddenly working better now. I just can’t say what those reasons are."

On the other hand, Max Verstappen has qualified on the front row for the Singapore GP, a place where he has never been able to secure a pole position.

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Max Verstappen addresses his subpar run of results at the Singapore GP

Max Verstappen looking at his Red Bull RB21 ahead of the qualifying session for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore - Source: Getty

Of all the 24 circuits on the 2025 F1 calendar, the Marina Bay Circuit is the only track where Max Verstappen has not won a race. But he has also not had a torrid track record, owing to his three podium finishes in his eight attempts at the race.

Having to contend with such statistics heading into the weekend, Verstappen shared his thoughts on it in the post-qualifying press conference:

"The last few years, it's not been easy. I mean, 2022 — that was a good opportunity, but you need to, of course, put enough fuel in the car for qualifying. And then, of course, it would have changed the perception a bit, because I hear this now the whole week: “Never had a pole. Never won here.” Well, fantastic. But yeah, now finally, the car is a bit more all-round, it seems... I think it will be nice if we can just keep this momentum going."

While Max Verstappen did not qualify on the pole position, he is slated to line up ahead of the McLaren duo when the clock strikes zero. This would help him be in a prime position to gain some ground on his championship rivals in the drivers' standings as Oscar Piastri (P3) and Lando Norris (P5) start behind him.