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Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner believes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff should be focused on areas beyond recruiting Max Verstappen and the driver market. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda in China, the Briton was convinced the Dutchman will remain at their team until the end of his contract in 2028.
Informed by Sportskeeda that the Mercedes boss was relying on their 2026 engine development's progress to recruit Max Verstappen, Horner snapped back asking if it had been relayed to the Dutchman. The Red Bull Racing team chief believes it's not just the contract that the Dutchman has with the team until the end of the 2028 season, but was also content with the team, its atmosphere, and current form. According to the Briton, Wolff needed to address other concerns in his team rather than focusing on the drivers, particularly ones that might not be available to him.
The Mercedes boss had told media including Sportskeeda after the Chinese GP, that the driver market was hinged on what move Max Verstappen made for his future. He said the Dutch driver's decision would have a domino effect. Wolff also mentioned that recruiting the Verstappen to Mercedes was possible for the next season.
Reacting to Wolff’s comments about Verstappen being pitched a Mercedes drive, the Red Bull Racing CEO said:
“Who, Toto has? Where did he say that? When?”
When told by Sportskeeda about Wolff’s plans to convince Max Verstappen about Mercedes’ engine in 2026 and beyond, Horner said:
“Well. I'm going to think carefully what I say here look, I think.. have you spoken to Max about this? Because if you speak to Max, and certainly, you know, his.. and it's not about pieces of paper at the end of the day. We know that he has a contract at the end of 2028. It's about how he feels in the team and the relationship he has in the team and the way he's performing. I don't think Toto's problems are his drivers. I think he's probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable.”
Christian Horner is certain that Max Verstappen is determined to stay at Red Bull
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner believes there is no ambiguity in the statements Max Verstappen has made about his future. Despite the Dutchman saying he will continue to race with his current team, he has often followed the statement with open-ended remarks or hints such as the unpredictable nature of the sport. In one instance, he had cited Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari despite a contract with Mercedes, as an example of unpredictable scenarios.
According to the Red Bull CEO, it made no sense to leave their team given their form and results. He felt the statements made by Wolff to potentially recruit the reigning champion were ‘noise’. Taking a swipe at Wolff, Horner felt the Mercedes boss needed to focus on his car performance where they are being outperformed by their customer teams Aston Martin and McLaren. He felt Max Verstappen did not need to reiterate that he was to continue with their team.
Asked if the Dutchman needed to settle it by being more assertive about his future with Red Bull, Horner said:
“I don't know how many more times he needs to say it. So I said it numerous times. I mean he's, I'm not going to get drawn into it. I think sometimes it's just designed to create noise, you know, we've moved today ahead of the amount of races that Mercedes have won in the modern era. So the with the teams in form, why on earth would you want to leave this team? You know Mercedes are the third team behind their customers at the moment. So I would think his (Toto) time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market.”
When reminded that the Dutchman was open-ended with his quotes, Horner said:
“I can assure you that there is no ambiguity as to where Max Verstappen will be next year.”
Taking a jibe at Wolff, Horner said:
“Have you heard George Russell is at the end of his contract at the end of 2025. Maybe he might not be so keen to stay and in ‘26. So the driver market moves around.”
Despite his contract with Red Bull Racing, the Dutchman is being associated with the Mercedes drive and was even linked to Aston Martin. If two seats were to be vacant for 2025 and beyond at the Milton Keynes outfit, that would make room for both Sergio Perez to retain his contract and another driver to be recruited. Currently, Max Verstappen seems content with his achievements and relationship with the team. But the speculation is rife about his future, as the early stages of silly season unfold.
