Red Bull boss addresses Horner exit, Verstappen’s skid plank prediction – round-up

Henry Valantine 22 Dec 2025 10:00 PM

Max Verstappen

Happy Christmas week, everyone – but in the build-up to the big day, we still have your daily dose of F1 news to bring you.

Red Bull appears at the centre of the day’s headlines on PlanetF1.com, so let’s catch you up with it all.

Red Bull boss addresses Horner sacking

Red Bull GmbH chief executive, Oliver Mintzlaff, denied Christian Horner’s sudden departure from Red Bull Racing was a “risk”, believing that a change needed to take place at the team.

He told Dutch publication De Telegraaf of Horner’s exit: “I wouldn’t call it a risk, because we were 100 per cent behind this measure.

“We knew we had to do something. I’m not a so-called hire-and-fire manager, someone who fires people just like that.

“Christian has a great track record with the team and has achieved a lot of success. Everyone here in the company, myself included, appreciates him for what he has done.

“But this is also part of being a professional organisation.”

Verstappen: ‘Half the cars’ might fail skid block tests

The FIA picks a random selection of a handful of cars after races to check for skid plank wear, but Max Verstappen predicted that, if more cars were checked, a higher number of disqualifications would occur – such is the closeness of margin that the teams run.

“Of course, you always try to find the limit. We all do,” Verstappen explained to Viaplay.

“And sometimes you get away with it… you’re not always checked.

“I think if you check that every race, then half of them are definitely under.”

Ferrari team boss offers pre-season warning

Fred Vasseur has said that, while being quick in Melbourne in March would clearly be a good thing, it is not a guarantee of pushing for title success.

With Formula 1’s huge regulation changes taking place, the Ferrari team principal predicts there will be a big development race in 2026 – and teams may not be able to upgrade as much as they would like, because of the constraints of the budget cap.

Verstappen’s manager offers Red Bull-Ford PU update

Max Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, confirmed he and his driver have heard good things about the team’s 2026 engine, produced in collaboration with Ford.

While the signs appear promising, though, he conceded that what constitutes a ‘good’ power unit depends significantly on what the other manufacturers produce – with Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda all producing their own engines for 2026.

A closer look at VCARB’s final car of this era

It’s time for another of our tech galleries, this time as we get up close and personal with Racing Bulls’ VCARB02.

Our Tech Editor, Matt Somerfield, has taken a closer look at the car to power Red Bull’s sister team’s run to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Red Bull