Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is not afraid of losing Max Verstappen after this year. This weekend, it was announced at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is in talks with (the management of) the Dutchman.
“Mercedes has its own problems,” Horner said on Sunday in a sweltering Red Bull motorhome after the race in Spielberg, when asked about Wolff’s comments. “They were 62 seconds behind the winner today. We focus on ourselves. We know where we stand with Max’s contract. The rest is noise, and it doesn’t come from us.”
Verstappen’s contract with Red Bull runs until the end of 2028. At the same time, Horner said last year that he would not keep Verstappen to his contract at all costs if he actually wanted to leave.
Mercedes driver George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, but had to settle for fifth place in Austria on Sunday. He thus conceded more than a minute to race winner Lando Norris. Verstappen retired after being hit by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in the opening lap.
Verstappen, who on Thursday did not want to say where he will be driving next year, said ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix last month that the upcoming races would be important for his future. In Imola he still won surprisingly, but after that McLaren only moved further away.
Horner dismisses new title for Verstappen
Yet Horner thinks Red Bull can convince Verstappen to stay. “I still believe in the strength and quality of this team. Unfortunately, the performance lags behind what we want. We are at the end of a regulations period and are limited by certain tools,” said Horner.
“But this is still the same group of people who built a car a year and a half ago that won every race except one. Those people have not become idiots overnight. McLaren is doing great – all credit to them – but it’s now about working smarter. Let’s see where we stand in the coming races.”
Horner was still somewhat optimistic about Verstappen’s title chances after the Canadian Grand Prix. After the early retirement of his top driver in Spielberg and the dominant performance of McLaren, Horner has to admit that the title is very likely to remain out of reach. “This season, McLaren’s lead is quite large,” he said.
“It seems to be a two-horse race. We focus on each Grand Prix individually and try to seize every opportunity, as we did in Imola and Montreal. There we finished second, ahead of the McLarens. Look at Mercedes: last week they won, today they were 62 seconds behind the winner and were almost overtaken by and Sauber. That shows how quickly things can change.”
‘There are no miracle cures in this sport’
Red Bull has implemented numerous updates in recent weeks, but it has not brought Verstappen any closer to the McLaren drivers. “There are no miracle cures in this sport. Progress takes time. You have to understand the problems and then address them,” the Briton said.
“This season has exposed a number of weaknesses, including in the tools we use. We are now working hard on that, because we don’t want to experience this again. There is currently one team that stands out above the rest, but behind that it changes from weekend to weekend who is ‘best of the rest’.”
Red Bull will have a new chance to redeem themselves next weekend when the British Grand Prix is on the program at Silverstone.