Max Verstappen is not the only one disappointed with the situation at Red Bull as Adrian Newey is also reportedly on the same page.
Amidst the situation created at Red Bull after allegations against team principal Christian Horner for inappropriate behavior with his employee(s), many speculations have emerged. Some even suggested that Max Verstappen might leave the team in the future.
Recently, it was reported by a German publication Auto Motor und Sport that along with him, Red Bull's aero wizard Adrian Newey was also disappointed with the situation.
Reportedly, Christian Horner wanted to move RB's complete focus to the RB17 Hypercar project due to the F1 budget cap.
Although the allegations against Horner were cleared after an investigation, much turmoil was spread within the team. Max's father, Jos Verstappen talked about how the team might be damaged. Furthermore, there were rumors that their advisor, Dr Helmut Marko, might leave the team.
Max Verstappen, who has been racing with RBR since the 2016 season, also mentioned during the 2024 F1 Saudi Arabian GP that he would not continue in the team without Marko.
Red Bull will allow Max Verstappen to leave the team if he insists
With the increasing speculation about Max Verstappen's future with the team, Christian Horner made a crucial statement at the Saudi Arabian GP.
As mentioned earlier, Jos Verstappen is not happy with the team, and Helmut Marko was reportedly asked to leave his post as well. Leading to this, Horner was asked about Max Verstappen's future with the team, to which he replied that the team would not force him to stay if he wished to leave before the end of his contract.
"It's like anything in life: you can't force somebody to be somewhere just because of a piece of paper," Horner told the media including Sportskeeda.
"If somebody didn't want to be at this team, then we're not going to force somebody, against their will, to be here. That applies whether it's a machine operator, or a designer, or somebody in one of the support functions that runs through the business."
Despite this, Horner believes Verstappen is still dedicated to Red Bull.
"Being involved in a team like this involves commitment and passion. Max has that. We've seen that, he's been here since he was 18 years of age."
"I have no doubt of his commitment and passion going forward."
The Dutchman has a contract with Red Bull until the 2028 F1 season. He has won three consecutive world championships so far and continues to lead the current season as well.