Horner certain Verstappen will 'absolutely' be with Red Bull in 2026 despite Marko's disagreement

17:23, 18 Apr

Updated: 17:29, 18 Apr

byToby Nixon

Christian Horner has responded to rumours surrouninbg Max Verstappen's Red Bull exit and a supposed crisis summit Red Bull held after the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Red Bull team principal labelled all the speculation as 'just noise', and is confident that Max Verstappen will continue with Red Bull Racing beyond this season.

'Not a crisis summit', explains Horner

"No, it's not a crisis summit. I mean, if you sit down with your engineers and discuss the race, I wouldn't describe that as a crisis summit," Horner snapped back to Sky Sports after he was asked if Red Bull hosted a crisis meeting in Dubai. Although he didn't deny the meeting, he stressed that there is no internal crisis taking place within Red Bull.

"I think the crisis summit was described as the meeting after the race in Bahrain. So, you know, you sit down and discuss these things logically. There's always, engineering solutions to engineering issues," Horner explained. Red Bull's boss continued: "No, we're not where we want to be. So, we've got some issues with the car that we're working through, and the whole team's working incredibly hard."

Horner also stated that Red Bull have a plan to fix some fundamental issues, ones which they are already aware of. "But I think we understand what the issues are. It's introducing a series of upgrades over the coming races to try and address some of those shortcomings."

Verstappen exit rumours are 'just noise'

Horner was also asked about the exit rumours swirling around his star driver, Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has been very diplomatic in the press, explaining that he is solely focused on improving the Red Bull car. Horner shares a similar sentiment. "I think noise is exactly the right word to describe it," he began.

"There's been a lot of noise outside of the team, you know, inside the team. I think Max again reaffirmed his commitment yesterday. We're focused on making the car go faster. That's where our focus is. Max is part of that."

The Brit once again reaffirmed Verstappen's commitment to the team where he has won four world titles. "He's a committed member of the team. And the rest is all speculation in here." Analyst and F1 veteran Martin Brundle then asked Horner if he's confident Max Verstappen will be in the Red Bull car in 2026. "Yeah, absolutely," he snapped back.

Horner admits that Marko disagrees with him

The Red Bull boss was then reminded that external advisor, Helmut Marko, holds a different perspective to the boss and is not certain Max Verstappen will be in the Red Bull next year. Horner is aware of this: "Yes but look, I mean, I think that people are always going to have their concerns. I think as a team, we are focused very much on sorting this car out. Sort the car out, it doesn't even become a discussion point."