Christian Horner has fired back at Toto Wolff following the Austrian’s recent remarks regarding Max Verstappen, as the Mercedes team principal appears to be making an effort to woo the Dutch driver.
In the aftermath of the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner took a swipe at Toto Wolff for his comments on Max Verstappen.
Wolff had expressed his belief that there are several factors influencing a driver’s choice of team, singling out the three-time drivers’ champion as his top priority in recent weeks.
Under the contemporary ground-effect era, Red Bull and Verstappen have been on an impressive winning streak, claiming victory in 38 out of 49 grand prix races during this period, including a dominant performance in China – marking Verstappen’s fourth win in the first five races of 2024.
While Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until 2028, speculation has arisen about his future due to internal team dynamics and power struggles. Wolff seems to be eyeing a seat for 2025 following Lewis Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes.
“I’m going to choose my words carefully here,” remarked Horner to the media in response to Wolff’s latest statements.
“Have you spoken to Max about this? Because if you speak to Max – and it’s not about pieces of paper at the end of the day, we know that he has a contract to the end of 2028 – it’s about how he feels in the team and the relationship he has in the team and the way he’s performing.
“I don’t think Toto’s problems are his drivers; I think he’s probably got other elements that he needs to be focusing on rather than focusing on drivers that are unavailable.”
Seizing the chance to counter Mercedes and his rival Wolff, Horner directed attention to the achievements Red Bull has garnered since the introduction of the latest regulations at the beginning of 2022.
“We moved today ahead of the number of races that Mercedes have won in the modern era, so the team [Red Bull] is in form, why on earth would you want to leave this team?” he argued.
“Mercedes are the third team behind their customers at the moment, so I would think his [Wolff’s] time would be better spent perhaps focusing on the team rather than the driver market.
“Have any of you heard George Russell is out of contract at the end of ’25? You know, maybe he might not be so keen to stay in ’26 – you know, the market moves around.”
Later, when the discussion circled back to Verstappen’s future, highlighting the fact that Verstappen has not definitively stated he will remain with Red Bull next season, Horner responded defiantly: “I can assure you that there is no ambiguity as to where Max Verstappen will be next year.”
As the conversation veered towards the 2026 power unit regulations, Horner interjected to redirect the focus to Mercedes, particularly emphasizing the situation regarding George Russell – the only driver contracted with the team beyond 2024.
