The major storyline heading into this weekend’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix? The contract status of none other than Max Verstappen. Fueled by several factors — George Russell and Kimi Antonelli remaining without contracts for next season at Mercedes, Red Bull’s struggles in recent weeks, and reporting that Verstappen was inching closer to a shocking move to Mercedes — the paddock has been ablaze with speculation about the four-time champion’s future.
On Friday his boss had a chance to weigh in.
Christian Horner, along with McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Aston Martin Team Principal Andy Cowell, addressed the media during the FIA Press Conference on Friday at Silverstone. Verstappen’s future was the major focus during the session.
Horner kicked off his remarks by noting that there will always be “speculation and noise” in Formula 1.
“Look, there’s obviously an awful lot of people talking about it, but what’s most important is the relationship between the driver and the team. There’s an agreement that defines that as well and everybody’s very clear on where we’re at,” started Horner. “Max has been with Red Bull since the very start of his career. All his successes come in Red Bull Racing cars. He’s a big part of our team and he has a great deal of faith in the team and the people around him.
“So, whilst there’s always going to be speculation and noise, I think we all sit fairly comfortable with where we’re at and what the situation is. We can’t control the narrative of others but internally, we know where we’re at.”
Pressed on the speculation by Ian Parkes from Racing News 365, Horner noted that while there is a performance mechanism within Verstappen’s contract that could open the door to an exit, the speculation might have been kicked off by Russell himself, who is eager to solidify his contract status at Mercedes.
“Look, the contracts between the drivers and the teams are always going to remain confidential. With any driver’s contract, there is an element of a performance mechanism, and of course that exists within Max’s contract,” said Horner. “His 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 in the pit lane.
“Actually, probably George triggered all this speculation, probably trying to leverage his own situation and force clarity, which you can understand because he’s driven a very good season as well this year. But inevitably, there will always be speculation about it. I think the most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team, and that’s very clear,” added the Red Bull boss.
Verstappen’s future is just one of two fights Horner is facing at the moment. The speculation over Verstappen’s status with the team is due in large part to Red Bull’s struggles on the track. Last season they slipped to third in the Constructors’ Championship standings, and at the moment they sit fourth, well behind first-place McLaren, and behind both Mercedes and Ferrari as well.
And with Verstappen sitting third in the Drivers’ Championship, Horner already seemed to wave the white flag on any titles this season following last week’s Austrian Grand Prix.
He sounded a similar tone on Friday.
“Well, we’re at the halfway point. McLaren have done a super job so far this year. They’ve been very dominant,” described Horner. “We’ve managed to win two races so far. We’re a significant gap behind in the Drivers’ Championship, so everyone has got to take an eye off that now and just focus on race by race.
“They’re all sort of like FA Cup finals, so you’ve just got to try and optimize every single race and then the points tables tend to take care of themselves,” continued the Red Bull boss. “But we’re really not looking too far at the championship tables at the moment as opposed to individual races that are coming thick and fast.”
With respect to their championship hopes there are two issues facing the team. First, a need to improve the RB21, and second, getting more production from Red Bull’s second seat alongside Verstappen. While the RB19, the team’s 2023 challenger, was one of the most dominant cars in F1 history this year’s edition has lagged behind the field.
Red Bull is continuing to bring upgrades to each race, adding new components both last week at their home race and this week at Silverstone.
Horner was tight-lipped about the new components on Friday.
“I think it’s about you bolt the new bits on the car, obviously you then look to correlate them between your development tools and on track, and then it’s a matter of tuning to optimise them,” said Horner. “So, the guys and girls are going through that now. It was tricky out there. The wind here is particularly tricky and you can feel how gusty it is. So definitely quite a wind effect, but we got some very good data, some very good knowledge from that session.
“Now let’s see how it comes to play in the session later on.”
But the biggest problem might be the lack of production from their second seat. This was not an issue in 2023 when the RB19 was the dominant package, and Verstappen won all but three Grands Prix (then-teammate Sergio Pérez won two as well). But last year as the RB20 lagged behind McLaren’s MCL38, a lack of production from Pérez hampered Red Bull’s chances at another Constructors’ Championship.
Pérez managed just four podiums last season — all of which came in the first five races — and scored just nine points over the final eight race weekends, a stretch that doomed his chances at staying with the team, despite signing a new contract midway through 2024.
Red Bull turned to Liam Lawson to replace Pérez to start the 2025 season, but after two disappointing races to begin the season the team demoted Lawson, giving Yuki Tsunoda a chance. But in his nine races with the senior team, Tsunoda has scored just seven points, and out of Red Bull’s 162 points, Verstappen has 155 of them.
Red Bull needs to find production from that second seat, and fast, if they have any hope of climbing up the table.
This week junior driver Arvid Lindblad was in Tsunoda’s seat for FP1, as the team gave the 17-year-old a practice session of work. Horner sang his praises during his media session after FP1.
“I thought he acquitted himself very well. I mean, he’s obviously another product of the junior team. He’s a talented young guy, only 17 years of age,” said Horner. “To jump into the car here at this circuit, which is a tough circuit, and be only within half a second, I thought he acquitted himself very well. His feedback was clear and concise, and yeah, he’s definitely a prospect for the future.”
Asked about that second seat by Luke Smith from The Athletic, Horner noted that while the team will look within their “pool of talent” for options, going outside of Red Bull is something the team would not be “afraid” to do.
“Obviously, our priority will be to look at what we have within our pool of talent. Yuki has got until the end of the season to demonstrate that he’s the guy to remain in the car. We have Isack [Hadjar] also doing a good job and Liam finding his form as well,” said Horner. “So, within the Red Bull pool, we have talent. But of course, you’re always open to what is outside of that. We want to field the best line-up that we can for next year. We’ve gone outside of that pool in recent years. If we feel the necessity to do so, we wouldn’t be afraid to do so again.”
Cycling back to the Verstappen question, Horner was asked twice about a potential Plan B if the driver were to leave, and he was quick with an option.
None other than one of the drivers under contract with Brown and McLaren.
“You know … Oscar Piastri,” said Horner when asked about a potential Plan B, much to the chagrin of one of the men sitting next to him.
Joking aside, Horner is facing this two-pronged fight as the 2025 F1 season hits the midway point.
How can he solve these problems? It starts with getting the most out of the RB21. The faster and better the car, the more likely it is that they will get production out of that second seat.
And the happier Verstappen will be.
