The 2025 season is, anyway, filled with a lot of drama, with top teams not being able to secure wins, top drivers struggling with their cars, and high-profile switches. However, none of them came as close to the buzz that was created by the sudden sacking of Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. Although a clear explanation is yet to be disclosed by the team, speculations are at their peak, and they only got stronger with Max Verstappen recently commenting on the situation. So what did he say? Let’s find out.
Christian Horner’s Sudden Sacking
Every time a team decides to let go of a member, they mostly wait for the end of the season to make a move, and almost never do it mid-season. However, Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull earlier this month with immediate effect, leading to bigger and more important questions. As we all know, rumours of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull by activating an exit clause and joining Mercedes were at an all-time high. Some reports also suggested that Verstappen has made it clear that he wants “less influence” of Horner in the team’s decisions, or he will leave the team at the end of this year.
This move was seen as near-impossible as Horner has been the Team Principal of Red Bull for almost two decades, and he has literally been the man behind the team’s success. Sacking him did not seem possible, unless, of course, it did. As soon as the news were announced, fans and experts alike started speculations on whether or not this happened to convince Max to stay in the team.
Max Verstappen Not Leaving Red Bull
Now, these were just speculations until Verstappen himself announced that he will be staying with the team and Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff announced that the team’s priority are George Russell and Kimi Antonelli or now and future. This means Max Verstappen isn’t going anywhere, which only makes the earlier claims more legit.
Max Verstappen On Christian Horner’s Sacking
Now, Max has openly commented on the situation, and has emphasized that his absence will have “no influence” on him or the team. I mean, he wanted “less influence” and now, there will be no influence? Sounds about right if the move was infact made to keep him in Red Bull.
He said, “It has no influence on what I’m doing. At the end of the day, the team made a decision to do that, and now, from our side, we just have to look forward. There are a lot of things that we want to work on and be better at, and hopefully, we just keep doing that.”
He also made it clear that he’s staying in the team and that’s where his priorities lie, “From my side, there’s nothing to say about my future. I know that I’m here and I’m happy with where I’m at. The only thing that we want to do is become more competitive, and that’s what we are working on.”
He went on to thank Christian Horner for everything and emphasized that he’s like family to him. He added, ““I’ve spoken to Christian. I spoke to him even today,” he said. “In that sense, the relationship will never change. We’ve experienced so many things together in the team, and of course, great, emotional moments. From my side, the team feels like a second family, and Christian is included in that.”
Also Read: Who Will Replace Christian Horner At Red Bull Racing
