Christian Horner details Max Verstappen talks amid Red Bull exit rumours
Max Verstappen and Christian Horner look on in the Red Bull garage at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix
Christian Horner has broken his silence after rumours that Max Verstappen could swap Red Bull for Aston Martin in a deal worth ?1billion.
Verstappen enters the F1 2025 season aiming to secure a fifth consecutive World Championship with Red Bull, having dominated the sport over recent years.
Christian Horner addresses latest Max Verstappen exit rumours
Despite being under contract until the end of F1 2028, Verstappen has been persistently linked with a move away from Red Bull over the last 12 months with Mercedes and Aston Martin emerging as potential alternative destinations.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, made no secret of his desire to sign Verstappen after Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was announced last year before the Brackley-based team chose teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli as George Russell’s new team-mate.
Meanwhile, a newspaper report last month claimed that Aston Martin have been attempting to woo potential sponsors by hinting that Verstappen will join the team in the near future.
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The claims were firmly denied by Aston Martin, who issued the following response when approached by PlanetF1.com:?“An Aston Martin Aramco spokesperson categorically denied the story.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen’s camp reportedly responded to the suggestions by commenting: “That’s nice.”
PlanetF1.com understands that both of Aston Martin’s current race drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, are under contract for at least the next two seasons.
Speaking to the Goodwood website, Horner claimed that the “public noise” surrounding Verstappen’s future is a sign that interested teams are not “serious” about signing the reigning World Champion, with deals of such magnitude normally done behind closed doors.
And he revealed that the 27-year-old has made his position “very clear” to Red Bull, with both parties enjoying a clear line of communication.
He said: “Max has a very open relationship with the team, and, of course, you discuss things openly, as in any form of partnership.
“He’s made very clear what his position is towards the team.
“And, of course, you’re always going to discuss things behind closed doors. That’s normal operation.
“Every team is going to show interest in him because he is the exceptional talent that we all know, so you can only imagine he would be at the top of every team’s list.
“There was a lot of noise. And usually, when the noise is so public, it tends to be [less believable].
“The serious stuff is usually done behind the scenes, not through the media.”
Horner’s latest comments come after he confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” potentially allowing him to leave Red Bull before 2028.
It has been speculated that Verstappen will be free to trigger an exit clause if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ Championship after a significant part of the F1 2025 season has been completed.
If true, that arrangement would appear to mirror a clause widely reported to have been inserted into one of Verstappen’s previous Red Bull contracts.
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A respected F1 reporter claimed last month that negotiations to take Verstappen to Aston Martin are “ongoing.”
That came just months after Robert Doornbos, the former Red Bull racer now working as a Dutch F1 pundit, claimed that Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll is “sparing no expense” to land Verstappen after signing design legend Adrian Newey from Red Bull last year.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have been tipped to relaunch efforts to sign Verstappen this year ahead of the major F1 2026 rule changes, for which the team’s preparations are believed to be advanced.
Russell’s current contract is believed to expire at the end of F1 2025, with the length of Antonelli’s deal unspecified when the youngster was confirmed as Hamilton’s successor last year.
In a recent interview with German publication Auto Motor und Sport, Wolff revealed that talks between Mercedes and Verstappen were shelved last year when the World Champion signalled his desire to remain at Red Bull.
He said:?“There was never a plan.
“We always talked and kept the line of communication open.
“At some point he said that he wanted to stay where he was for the time being because it felt right for him.
“And I said that we would go with Kimi because it also felt right for us.
“And now we’ll see where it takes us.”
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