Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has strongly refuted the notion that his team has `suddenly become idiots overnight`. He made these comments while explaining why he believes Max Verstappen would remain loyal to Red Bull despite ongoing speculation linking the reigning world champion to rivals Mercedes.
Verstappen`s remarkable streak of four consecutive drivers` titles appears destined to end this year. McLaren`s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have established a commanding position at the top of the championship standings as the season approaches its midpoint.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed on Friday that he is engaged in `conversations` about the possibility of signing Verstappen, even though the Dutch driver is under contract with Red Bull until the conclusion of the 2028 season.
Speaking after the Austrian Grand Prix, which saw Verstappen retire following an unfortunate first-lap incident, Horner outlined the reasons he believes the 27-year-old maintains faith in the Red Bull setup.
Horner stated: “I still believe that we possess considerable strength in depth within this team.”
“Unfortunately, the performance we hoped for hasn`t materialised. We are currently at the end of a specific regulatory period, and I suspect some of the development tools we use are limiting us.”
“However,” he added, “this is the same core group of people who designed a car that won all but one Grand Prix just 18 months ago. They didn`t simply lose their competence overnight.”
“We must acknowledge and congratulate McLaren for the excellent job they are doing,” he concluded.Mercedes Faces Its Own Challenges
Wolff had previously courted Verstappen publicly last year, especially after Lewis Hamilton`s major switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for 2025 was confirmed. However, earlier this year, Wolff had suggested he was no longer actively pursuing the driver with 65 career victories.
Nevertheless, Mercedes driver George Russell revealed on Thursday that he believes the delay in finalising his own contract extension is because his team is evaluating its prospects of signing Verstappen. Wolff largely validated Russell`s comments as accurate.
Reflecting on the challenging Austrian GP, where Red Bull`s other driver Yuki Tsunoda finished last among classified runners, Horner was asked about the impact of this poor result on the speculation surrounding Verstappen`s future.
He replied: “I believe they [Mercedes] have their own set of issues to deal with. They finished 62 seconds behind the race leader today.”
“For our part, we are purely focused on ourselves. We understand Max`s situation clearly, and we know his contractual commitments. The rest is merely external noise that is not originating from within our team.”
Horner described Tsunoda`s race as “horrible” and acknowledged the team would continue to investigate why Verstappen`s recent teammates have struggled significantly to perform anywhere near his performance level.
“Yuki had a dreadful race,” Horner commented.
“It started to go wrong for him in Q1 yesterday. His initial run in Q1 was fine, but on the second attempt, he made a mistake at Turn One, which led to a poor qualifying position. He then got caught in traffic during the race, was unable to pass, and subsequently received a penalty. It just compounded the difficulties.”
“Naturally, we will look to provide support to Yuki and help him regain his confidence ahead of Silverstone. There is a significant performance gap between the two cars. Internally, we are certainly asking all the same questions you are about the `why`. The car has evolved over the years in a particular developmental direction.”
Verstappen Reflects on Title Chances
Following the opening lap collision with Mercedes` Kimi Antonelli on Sunday – an incident marking his first retirement in 32 races – Verstappen now finds himself 61 points behind the championship leader.
Verstappen has mentioned for several races that he didn`t feel genuinely in contention for the title this year, citing McLaren`s strong competitive form. After the disappointing result on Sunday, the Dutch driver told Sky Sports F1: “Hopefully, then people will not mention it too much anymore.”
“We consistently strive to do our very best. My fundamental mentality remains unchanged. We have achieved numerous victories in the past.”
“Sometimes you must accept that victory is not possible, and we simply focus on performing to the best of our abilities.”
Marcus Prine