Christian Horner: Day will come Max Verstappen won’t be at Red Bull

Christian Horner has admitted Red Bull must “have in mind” that a day will come when Max Verstappen will no longer be at the team.

Four-time world champion Verstappen continues to find himself heavily linked with a move to Mercedes amid a delay in the Silver Arrows handing current driver George Russell a contract extension for 2026 and beyond.

While Red Bull F1 team principal Horner downplayed the speculation surrounding Verstappen’s future, he conceded his side have to prepare for the eventuality that the Dutchman leaves one day.

"Max is a key part of our team, and has been for pretty much 10 years now. So the intention is to keep that going,” Horner told media including Crash.net at Silverstone on Friday.

“But one day, whether it's a year after or the year after [that], there will be a day that there is no more Max. You always have to have that in mind, the team always has to keep looking and investing in the future.

“So hopefully that won't be for several years to come but you never know. You're always investing in young talent. You're always giving opportunities, like we did today with Arvid Lindblad to see the next generation coming through.

“Because one thing for sure, in this business, nothing stands still.”

But Horner says Verstappen has made it clear to Red Bull that he intends to stay.

“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,” he said.

“Obviously there’s an agreement that defines that as well and everyone is very clear on where we’re at. Max has been with Red Bull since the very start of his career, all of his success has come in Red Bull Racing cars and he’s a big part of our team and he has a great deal of faith in the team and the people around him.

“Whilst there’s always going to be speculation and noise, we all sit fairly comfortable with where we are at and what the situation is. We can’t control the narrative of others but internally we know where we are at.”

When asked directly to clarify whether Verstappen will still be a Red Bull driver in 2026, Horner replied: “Look the contracts between the drivers and the teams are always going to remain confidential and with any driver’s contract there is an element of a performance mechanism. Of course that exists in Max’s contract.

“The absolute intention is that he will be there and driving for us in 2026. It’s inevitable that he’s of huge interest to every other team in the pit lane and I think actually George triggered all of 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.

“Inevitably, there will always be speculation about it. I think the most important thing is the clarity which exists between Max and the team and that’s very clear.”

Horner jokes Piastri is Red Bull’s ‘Plan B’

Horner jokingly suggested that Red Bull would look to sign championship leader Oscar Piastri from McLaren in the event Verstappen left.

The comment was particularly cheeky given Horner had McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown sat next to him in the press conference.

Asked if Red Bull have a Plan B in case Verstappen left, Horner replied laughing: “Oscar Piastri.

“We’re very focused on our current drivers and our relationship with that. Max has got a contract until 2028. He’s made it quite clear he would like to finish his career in a Red Bull car, from start to finish.

“I think that’s quite special and unique for him. That’s what we’re focused on and we’re just ignoring the noise and focusing on the areas we know where we need to improve and how to do that.”

Horner added he would be “astounded” if Piastri or Lando Norris wanted to leave McLaren, while Brown stressed “our drivers aren’t going anywhere”.