Christian Horner leaves a subtle clue to Max Verstappen that joining Mercedes could be a mistake

Red Bull’s boss, Christian Horner, dropped a subtle clue to its driver Max Verstappen that the passage to Mercedes could be an error. The Austrian team has had a radical fall in the prominence since it dominated sport in 2023, in which it has lost only one race.

Since then, the 2024 F1 season has seen Red Bull lose the manufacturer’s championship against McLaren while Max Verstappen has kept in the pilot championship. This time in 2025, Red Bull is unable to win the manufacturers’ championship. At the same time, there is a high probability that the Dutch driver will also be out of the championship.

During all this, rumors of a possible conversation between Max Verstappen and Mercedes surfaced. It was George Russell who was the first to reveal that the two parties spoke. Since then, Toto Wolff has confirmed that there had been conversations between the two parties.

At the same time, the Italian media sent the Overdrive rumor mill by saying that Max Verstappen had given its consent to a potential decision to Mercedes.

During the FIA ​​press conference, Christian Horner of Red Bull was one of the grilled people while he was moving away from the suggestions that Max Verstappen could be in talks with Mercedes for a possible decision. The team’s owner, however, addressed the potential peak order in 2026.

The Red Bull said that no one had an idea of ​​what the order of hierarchy would be next season and, in a subtle message to Max Verstappen, said that Mercedes would be the fastest. He said,

“No one with the hand on the heart can know what the hierarchical order will be – it could be one of these gentlemans [McLaren’s Brown and Aston Martin’s Andy Cowell] Sitting next to me, it could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be anyone. “”

He added,

“I think there is a lot of subjectivity at 2026, and it will only be this time next year that you will have a clear indication of what this peaking order is. There is no guarantee that jumping in a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposal. ”

Max Verstappen and Red Bull are clear on where they are

Max Verstappen has often expressed interest in staying with Red Bull until the end of his career, which could potentially occur by the end of his current contract with the team in 2028. Speaking of his driver, Horner said that the team could not control the story outside, even if inside, he knew where everyone was. He said,

“Everyone is very clear where we are. Max has been with Red Bull from the very beginning of his career, all his success came in Red Bull racing cars, and he was part of our team and he has a lot of confidence in the team and the people around him.”

He added,

“Although there is always speculation and noise, I think we are all quite comfortable with where we are and what is the situation. We cannot control the story of others, but internally we know where we are.”

It would be interesting to see what are the next steps in this saga, because it seems that until the end of the summer break, it will walk.