Max Verstappen has won and won titles in a row with Red Bull Racing, but the collaboration could end abruptly. Because the dominant Formula 1 team is deeply divided. The Christian Horner scandal continues to have an impact – and, in the worst case, could mean the end of an era.
Christian Horner tried to downplay the danger. Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen will “100 percent” compete for Red Bull Racing in the 2025 season, the team boss emphasized. Certainly also in the hope of being able to quickly end the discussions about an impending escalation of conflicts in and around the successful racing team. And although the Dutchman himself emphasized that he is “very happy” with “where I am right now,” these debates are unlikely to die down. Because: The focus is on a very special option for Verstappen to get out of his contract, which is valid until 2028, early. Which, in the worst case scenario, could plunge Red Bull into an existential crisis.
Also on the sidelines of the Japanese Grand Prix (Sunday, 7 a.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) The conflict is omnipresent and has left the driver market in a state of shock. Actually, Lewis Hamilton’s announced move from Mercedes to Ferrari next season could have triggered the next transfers. Carlos Sainz, for example, who is leaving for him, is still without a cockpit for 2025. As the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix winner of the past year and a half, he should actually attract more interest. But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is taking his time looking for a Hamilton successor – and speculates that Verstappen is actually looking for a new cockpit.
The 26-year-old Dutchman is, so to speak, “the king of the chess game” of the Formula 1 driver market, as ntv F1 reporter Felix Görner reports. All teams are speculating on being able to sign the three-time world champion if he wants to move – or at least on benefiting from the consequences of this mega transfer. This could become reality if motorsport consultant Helmut Marko actually leaves Red Bull Racing. Consistent media reports coincide with ntv information: Verstappen appears to have an exit clause in the event that Marko leaves the team.
“Horner has to leave Marko alone, otherwise Verstappen is gone”
Marko, who had to end his own Formula 1 career in the 1970s after just nine starts due to a serious eye injury, is not only the key man for Red Bull’s successful youth program. He is also Verstappen’s close confidant. And one of Horner’s opponents, who, however, emerged as the winner from the high-profile “power struggle”, as Görner states: “Supported by the Thai majority shareholders of Red Bull Racing and Red Bull around Chalerm Yoovidhya, who keeps him in office. Horner has his friendship Saved from expulsion.”
The Austrian side around Mark Mateschitz, the son of the multiple billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in 2022, is said to have preferred drastic consequences from the Horner affair. The Red Bull Racing team boss is said to have behaved inappropriately and cross-borderly towards an employee. An internal investigation that exonerated Horner was followed by the publication of private messages that Horner is said to have sent to the woman. As a result, there were increasing reports that the fronts between Horner on the one hand and Verstappen/Marko on the other had hardened.
“There is currently a truce,” reports F1 reporter Görner, albeit a fragile one: “For Horner, that means if he doesn’t leave Helmut Marko alone and throws him out of his own free will because he doesn’t want any of that anymore, then there’s a threat Escalation level.” Although “nothing will happen at the moment because Verstappen is under no pressure at all” to find an alternative, as Görner explains: “You can also see that in the fact that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is leaving the door open for him until the summer. Mercedes will Wait until the last moment if they can get Verstappen to put the best man in the Silver Arrow.” He doesn’t expect any major movements in the driver market until the Verstappen question is finally clarified. “Because all the other drivers who are on the market do not combine the skills that Max Verstappen has.”
Red Bull mastermind Newey could also change
However, if this exact case were to occur and Verstappen left the team, according to Görner there would be fatal consequences: “The entire Red Bull bubble can burst overnight.” In addition to talent developer Marko and the currently dominant Verstappen, the mastermind of vehicle development could also be inclined to say goodbye: Adrian Newey. The legendary designer “suffers from the disunity in the team,” says Görner, “he is a person who is very in need of harmony.”
If Newey wanted to leave, he could probably choose his new employer freely: “He could go to Ferrari, but he won’t do that because it’s Italy. But Aston Martin is an option. Newey would then just have to stay with him for 20 minutes longer “Driving to work by car. Aston Martin and team owner Lawrence Stroll would give him all the freedom he wants.” The technical director is known for the fact that he also likes to design yachts and hypercars, so he is a great designer in the racing sector. A preference that, for Stroll, is no obstacle to commitment.
If Newey were to leave the Red Bull team, according to Görner, “a further level of escalation would be ignited”. In that case, Yoovidhya should also take notice, after all, Newey is something like the mastermind behind the successes of previous years. Successes by which Horner must be measured. A failure like the one in Melbourne two weeks ago, when Verstappen retired after just four laps due to a brake defect, must not be allowed to happen again. “Any failure that follows will be blamed on Horner,” Görner is certain. Neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez or Helmut Marko would be blamed for further bankruptcies, but rather Horner. Of course, the Thai majority owner has success in mind first and foremost, which is the only way he can see his brand in the spotlight that is intended.
Horner’s success depends – unfavorably for him – largely on Verstappen. Only if he stays will success for Red Bull be guaranteed. “All other drivers that are on the market do not combine the skills that Max Verstappen has,” said Görner. No wonder Horner is so keen to emphasize that Verstappen is staying no matter what. Because while the Dutchman would immediately find a place with another racing team, Horner’s options in Formula 1 are likely to be very limited.