Max Verstappen spoke about the climate at Red Bull after the departure of Christian Horner

The four-time champion was asked during the Mexico City GP about whether the change in performance of the Austrian team has a response in the change of command.

During the United States GP, Helmut Marko, sports advisor and strong man within the Red Bull team, was consulted about the unexpected rebound of the RB21 that put Max Verstappen back in the race for the title. “By the summer, Red Bull had already given up. But there was a change. Laurent Mekies managed to introduce a different approach to the technical setup and the general way of working,” said the Austrian. Without naming him, his message pointed to the departure of Christian Horner, who held the position of director at Milton Keynes for 20 years and was fired after the last British GP.

Since the assumption of the Frenchman as priest of the Austrian bulls Seven races passed and Verstappen reduced the gap in the fight for the title from 104 (after the Netherlands) to 40 with which he arrived at the Mexico City GP. At the Hermanos Rodríguez, the four-time champion was asked if the change from Red Bull was due to the departure of Horner.

“It is not possible to know for sure,” he said in statements to the English media The Telegraaf. His ambiguous initial response took a different turn when he delved into the topic: “I’m very happy with how everything is going in the team now. Not only with Laurent, but with all of Red Bull Racing. And also the whole relationship between the Austrian and Thai shareholders. We are all on the same page. For such a big brand and racing team, that is very important. Many people knew that things were not going well, but it is not always easy to fix it.”

Regarding his feelings after Horner’s departure, Max said: “Now I go out on the track with a more pleasant feeling. But the results and the fact of having a more competitive car also help in that sense.” When talking about the performance of his RB21 throughout 2025, he said: “At one point this season I thought there was nothing I was going to be able to do about this. I started the year knowing that we didn’t have the best car. And now I still don’t believe it, but as a team we know very well how to get the most out of it. We have done it masterfully for years. And now, I have nothing to lose in this race for the title and I have to go with everything.”