Christian Horner breaks silence on Max Verstappen’s contract after bombshell Adrian Newey announcement

Christian Horner has broken his silence regarding Max Verstappen’s future after Adrian Newey’s bombshell announcement.

On Thursday, it was confirmed that Newey, who is considered the greatest car designer in Formula 1 history, will leave Red Bull Racing in 2025.

A statement read: “The Team announces that Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey will leave the Red Bull Technology Group in the first quarter of 2025.

“The engineering supremo will step back from Formula 1

design duties to focus on final development and delivery of Red Bull’s first hypercar, the hugely anticipated RB17

“He will remain involved in and committed to this exciting project until its completion. We’d like to thank Adrian for our achievements in the time that we have worked together so far. He has been instrumental for us in achieving a remarkable seven Formula One Drivers’ and six Constructors’ Championship titles - totalling 118 victories and 101 poles including the STR 2007 pole and victory.”

Since the news was made public, current F1 champion and Red Bull superstar Verstappen’s future has been the talk of the town.

It has been previously claimed that the Dutchman could follow Newey out of Red Bull, with a meeting reportedly set up with Mercedes, who are looking for a replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss and CEO Horner spoke about Verstappen’s future.

Danica Patrick asked Horner: “There’s some rumblings that Max might leave, is this something that concerns you at all?”

Horner replied: “You report those rumblings every week and he’s still here.

“Look, Max is very happy in the team, he’s got a wonderful group of engineers around him, he’s got a great, he’s in the best car on the grid, he’s in the form of his life. It’s not about contracts.”

He added: “It’s about being content and I think that’s the same for every driver. He has that, he has that dynamic around him.”

When asked if Verstappen has an exit clause, Horner replied: “No I mean Max’s contract will remain confidential but there’s no clauses that link Adrian in any way to Max.

“They’ve enjoyed a great relationship over the years, Max understands there’s been a planning process to this and it is not a knee-jerk decision. The structure will not change with Adrian stepping back.”