Thursday’s Media Day before Formula 1 Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix was dominated by speculation about Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull. With Senior Advisor Helmut Marco Expressing his concern That four-time driver champions may leave the team and report the appearance of Aston Martin I make a shocking offer for his servicethe driver used the FIA press conference to pour cold water into the rumors.
Friday gave Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner the opportunity to do the same.
Talk to Sky Sports F1 The Red Bull boss described the rumor as “noise” and asserted that Verstappen will return to the team next year.
“Noise is exactly the right word to describe that. There was a lot of noise outside of the team.” Horner said.
“Yesterday, Max reaffirmed his commitment. We’re focusing on making the car faster. That’s our focus. Max is part of it, he’s a dedicated member of the team. The rest is all speculation.”
When asked in 2026 if Verstappen would be with Red Bull, Horner didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, absolutely.”
The recent round of speculation came after a difficult week for the Bahrain Granpurin team, who saw the results of the first double point of the season, but Verstappen left a sixth-place battle with Pierre Gasly on the final lap of the race. The Red Bull driver managed to win the fight, but there was tension in the paddock after the race, and reports of a “crisis summit” among high-ranking team staff.
Horner also brushed these reports aside.
“It wasn’t a crisis summit. If you sit with your engineers and talk about races, you won’t describe it as a crisis summit,” Horner said.
“We have a lot of meetings. You sit down and discuss these things logically. There’s always an engineering solution for engineering issues.
“We’re not where we want to be. We have some issues with the car we work and our entire team is working hard. We know what the problem is. We’re introducing a series of upgrades in upcoming races to address some of these shortcomings.”
Horner’s comments Sky Sports F1 It was followed by my first practice session in Jeddah. Jeddah finished with Verstappen on P9 and teammate Yuki Tsunoda behind him on P10. The Red Bull team principal noted that the team is trying some new things at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and that they are trying to become “small radical” with their approach.
“We’re trying a few different things this weekend, so all of that session was about trying to be a bit radical with some of the setup,” Horner added.
“In the first practice, there are a lot of things to do when you look at the car differently.”
The second practice session in Saudi Arabia will begin instantly, but it remains to be seen whether this will end Verstappen’s speculation about the future.
