Max Verstappen privately warned Red Bull’s Thai owners after Christian Horner was sacked

Nate Saunders reported that Verstappen told Yoovidhya he would need to be convinced that removing Horner was the right move. With more favourable exit clauses available from 2026, Verstappen could have an easier path out if things don’t improve.

“Max has seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I was quite impressed with how he handled it; he didn’t throw Christian under the bus, he could easily have done that,” said Saunders via ESPN’s Unlapped podcast.

“They had dinner together and he said: ‘Look, this is the decision we’re making’, which is interesting because we kind of speculated as to why Horner might have lost his support, in terms of that shareholder had always had Horner’s backing.”

“So I think Max has just stepped away from it a little bit. And by Sunday evening, he was talking about how important the rest of this year is going to be for 2026.”

Max Verstappen told Chaleo Yoovidhya he needs to convince him that sacking Christian Horner was the ‘right call’

The friction within Red Bull made Christian Horner’s position increasingly difficult. Tensions were especially high with Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko involved. He also lost some key allies as Thai ownership pressured him over his marketing responsibilities.

Back in 2024, Chaleo Yoovidhya played a significant role in keeping Horner at Red Bull. His support at that time makes his decision in 2025 even more surprising.

Verstappen has ruled out joining Mercedes in 2026, preferring to wait and see how the new regulations shake up the competitive order. He remains sceptical about the strength of Mercedes’ engine, particularly with battery technology still an unknown factor across the grid.

Meanwhile, feedback from Milton Keynes about Red Bull’s 2026 power unit hasn’t been positive. Verstappen’s camp expects a difficult year ahead with that engine, fuelling more talk that he could move to Mercedes in 2027 instead.

The team still has plenty to do if they want to convince Verstappen to stay long-term. He is feeling optimistic about working under new team principal Laurent Mekies, and their first race together at Spa showed early promise.

Mekies’ arrival brings a new approach that Verstappen seems open to, but he has made it clear that further progress is needed if he is going to commit his future to Red Bull beyond next season.