Verstappen responds to ‘really weird’ Horner question
Red Bull is back in the fight following Christian Horner's departure
Max Verstappen was baffled by a question about whether Red Bull could have staged its fight back if Christian Horner had remained in charge, with the reigning World Champion mathematically still in the fight with three race weekends remaining.
For the first time since its inception, Red Bull was placed under new leadership when long-serving team principal Horner was sacked with immediate effect after the British Grand Prix, before officially leaving the team in September.
Max Verstappen baffled by Christian Horner question
PlanetF1.com revealed that Horner and Red Bull had reached a settlement agreement, believed to be worth around $100 million for Horner. The compromise agreed could free the 51-year-old to return to Formula 1 in the first half of next year.
Although Red Bull never offered an official explanation for Horner’s ousting, motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said there were several reasons, of which performance was one.
“This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn’t quite as good as it could have been,” he told Sky Deutschland.
After the dominance of 2023 in which Red Bull secured the championship and the 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings, the team’s advantage was whittled away by McLaren, which this season surged ahead on the track.
Under Horner’s leadership, Verstappen stood on the podium just five times in the first 12 races of this season, and only twice on the top step.
In the nine race weekends since the Briton’s exit and Mekies taking charge, Verstappen has more than doubled his points tally and currently sits on a seven-race podium streak that has all but assured him of finishing the season on the championship podium.
Asked if he thought Red Bull’s fight back would’ve been possible had Horner remained in the team principal chair, Verstappen was left perplexed.
“I find it a really weird question,” replied the 28-year-old.
“I don’t know why that would be suddenly now — that we closed 49 points like that? I don’t know. You can fill it in yourself.
“I think we’ve done a very good job the last few races. What else can I say? We try everything that we can. The car has been good at some places, maybe not so good at others. But that’s it.”
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Verstappen will line up on the Las Vegas grid on Saturday night aware that it could be his final hurrah in the championship race with his four-year reign on the line.
If Norris claims the maximum 25 points, Verstappen has to finish second to remain in the running. But it will be a long shot as he’ll only have two points grace. If Norris wins and Verstappen’s third, it’s game over.
If Norris is second, Verstappen needs fifth or better to remain in the fight, but he’d be hanging on by a single point, while if the McLaren driver is third, Verstappen needs sixth, as seventh place would have them tied on points, eliminating the Red Bull driver as, even if he won the remaining two races in the season, he’d still lose the title on a countback (they’d have seven wins apiece, but Norris has more second place finishes).
The best possible result for Verstappen would be a non-score for Norris and the win for himself, as that would slash his deficit to 24 points.
Verstappen accepts he needs Lady Luck to smile down on him.
“I mean, with a lot of luck till the end — but I’m not thinking about it. It’s a lot of points, and I just want to have a good weekend, good weekends till the end. And then, yeah, after Abu Dhabi, we close the book, have a bit of time off, and we go again next year,” he said.
Asked if he was frustrated given he may still lose the title despite Red Bull’s late-season surge, he replied: “Honestly, I’m not really too stressed about it. If I knew everything in advance, I would have been a billionaire now. That’s just how life goes.
“If you would know things in advance or how to do things better, yeah, it makes your life a lot easier. But people always learn, make mistakes — we’re not robots. That’s just part of life. That’s why I’m not too disappointed about it.
“I know that my team always gave it 100 percent from the start of the season until now. What else can you do? I mean, we really tried everything. We’ve had some really great years, and this one is just not as good as the years before.
“But that happens. Formula 1 is a very competitive world. And in particular, one team this year has done a better job than us.”
