F1 news: Christian Horner has his say as he faces an F1 fight on 2 fronts at the British Grand Prix
The major scenario before the British Grand Prix of Formula 1 of this weekend? The state of the contract other than Max Verstappen. Fucked by several factors – George Russell and Kimi Antonelli remaining without contracts for next season in Mercedes, Red Bull’s difficulties in recent weeks, and pointing that Verstappen approached a shocking move to Mercedes – the paddock was burned with speculation on the future of the fourth champion.
Friday, his boss had the chance to weigh.
Christian Horner, as well as the CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown and the director of the Aston Martin team, Andy Cowell, addressed the media at the FIA press conference on Friday in Silverstone. Verstappen’s future has been the main objective of the session.
Horner launched his remarks by noting that there will always be “speculation and noise” in Formula 1.
“Listen, there are obviously a lot of people who talk about it, but what is most important is the relationship between the driver and the team. There is an agreement that defines that too and everyone is very clear about our position,” started Horner. “Max has been with Red Bull since the very beginning of his career. All his successes come in Red Bull racing cars. It is a large part of our team and has a lot of confidence in the team and the people around him.
“So, although there is always speculation and noise, I think we are all quite comfortable with where we are and what is the situation. We cannot control the story of others but internally, we know where we are.”
In a hurry the speculation by Ian Parkes of Racing News 365Horner noted that although there is a performance mechanism in the Verstappen contract which could open the door to an exit, speculation could have been launched by Russell himself, who is impatient to consolidate his contract status at Mercedes.
“Look, the contracts between the drivers and the teams will always be confidential. With any driver contract, there is a performance mechanism element, and of course, this exists in the maximum contract,” said Horner. “His intention is that he will be there and will lead for us in 2026. It is inevitable that he is of a huge interest in any other team in the path of the stands.
“In fact, George has probably triggered all these speculations, probably trying to take advantage of his own situation and to force clarity, which you can understand because he has also motivated a very good season this year. But inevitably, there will always be speculations on this subject. I think that the most important thing is the clarity that exists between Max and the team, and which is very clear,” added the boss Red Bull.
The future of Verstappen is only one of the two fights that Horner is faced at the moment. Speculation on the status of Verstappen with the team is largely due to the difficulties of Red Bull on the track. Last season, they slipped in the third place in the classification of the manufacturers’ championship, and for the moment they are seated fourth, well behind first place McLaren, and behind Mercedes and Ferrari too.
And with Verstappen seated third in the pilot championship, Horner already seemed to shake the white flag on all the titles this season after the Austrian Grand Prix last week.
It seemed a similar tone on Friday.
“Well, we are halfway. McLaren has done a great job so far this year. They have been very dominant,” said Horner. “We have managed to win two races so far. We are a significant gap in the pilot championship, so everyone must attract an eye now and focus on race by race.
“They are all like FA Cup finals, so you have to try to optimize each race, then the points tables tend to take care of themselves,” continued the Red Bull Boss. “But we really do not look too far from the championship tables at the moment as opposed to individual races which arrive thick and fast.”
Regarding their championship hopes, there are two problems with which the team is faced. First, the need to improve RB21, and secondly, obtain more production from the second seat of Red Bull alongside Verstappen. While the RB19, the team challenger in 2023, was one of the most dominant cars in this year’s F1 history, the edition was lagging behind.
Red Bull continues to upgrade each race, adding new components last week to their home race and this week in Silverstone.
On Friday, Horner was tight on the new components.
“I think it is about bolling the new pieces of the car, obviously, you then try to correlate them between your development tools and on the right track, then it is a question of adjustment to optimize them,” said Horner. “So guys and girls are going through this now. It was difficult.
“Now let’s see how it is about playing in the session later.”
But the biggest problem could be the lack of production of their second seat. It was not a problem in 2023 when the RB19 was the dominant package, and Verstappen won all the Grands Prix except three (then the teammate, Sergio also also). But last year while the RB20 was lagging behind McLaren’s MCL38, a lack of production of Pérez hampered the chances of Red Bull during the championship of another manufacturer.
Pérez only succeeded in four podiums last season – which all arrived in the first five races – and only scored nine points in the last eight racing weekends, a section which has condemned its chances of staying with the team, despite a signature of a new contract halfway until 2024.
Red Bull turned to Liam Lawson to replace Pérez to start the 2025 season, but after two disappointing races to start the season, the team downgraded Lawson, giving Yuki Tsunoda a chance. But in his nine races with the senior team, Tsunoda scored only seven points, and on the 162 points of Red Bull, Verstappen is 155.
Red Bull must find the production of this second seat, and quickly, if they have hope to climb the table.
This week, the junior pilot Arvid Lindblad was at the headquarters of Tsunoda for FP1, while the team gave the 17 -year -old woman a training session. Horner sang his praises during his media session after FP1.
“I thought he is going very well. I mean, he is obviously another product of the junior team. He is a talented young man, only 17 years old,” said Horner. “To jump into the car here on this circuit, which is a difficult circuit, and to be only less than half a second, I thought that he had been very well acquitted. His comments were clear and concise, and yes, there is definitely a prospect for the future.”
Asked about this second seat of Luke Smith from AthleticsHorner noted that even if the team will look in their “talent pool” for the options, getting out of Red Bull is something that the team would not be “afraid” to do.
“Obviously, our priority will be to look at what we have in our talent basin. Yuki has until the end of the season to demonstrate that he is the guy to stay in the car. We have Isack [Hadjar] Doing a good job and Liam also finds its shape, “said Horner.” So in the Red Bull swimming pool, we have talent. But of course, you are always open to what is outside of that. We want to align the best possible program for next year. We have left this swimming pool in recent years. If we feel the need to do it, we would not be afraid to do it again. »»
By bicycle to the question of Verstappen, Horner was questioned twice on a potential plan B if the driver had to leave, and he was fast with an option.
No one other than one of the drivers under contract with Brown and McLaren.
“You know … Oscar Piastri,” said Horner when he asked him about a potential B level B, to the chagrin of one of the men sitting next to him.
Pleasant, Horner faces this two-part fight while the 2025 F1 season hits the point halfway.
How can they solve these problems? It starts by getting the most out of RB21. The faster and the better the car, the more likely it is that they will obtain the production of this second seat.
And the happiest Verstappen will be.
