"You cannot force them to stay against their will": Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the possibility of Max Verstappen leaving the team

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently addressed Max Verstappen's potential exit from the Austrian-British team.

Following Horner's investigation saga, Jos Verstappen had a meeting with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff after the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP. This meeting sparked several rumors about Max Verstappen potentially moving away from the Austrian-British team.

After Horner's investigation, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko was also examined by the team for leaking confidential information to the media. When rumors of Marko's potential exit from the team started surfacing, Max Verstappen himself hinted that he could leave the defending world champions if the 80-year-old was removed from the team.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Christian Horner stated that no team can force a driver, or any other team member for that matter, to stay.

“Look, in the end, they are situations that we find in many other aspects of life. You cannot force a person to be part of a group just for a piece of paper, if someone decides they no longer want to be part of this team, you cannot force them to stay against their will. This applies to all roles, whether you are a pilot, a technician, or anyone else," he said.

Horner also praised Max Verstappen's passion and commitment to racing, something that he claims Red Bull inherits as well.

"Being involved in a Formula 1 team like Red Bull Racing involves commitment and passion. Max has it, we've seen it, he's been here since he was 18, I don't have the slightest doubt about his commitment and his passion," he added.

---

Max Verstappen addresses rumors about him leaving Red Bull

Speaking to Marca, the Dutch driver himself shared his thoughts on rumors about him potentially leaving the Austrian-British team.

"Well, you know, the thing is, I don't think anyone would have noticed or seen that Lewis was moving to Ferrari. And in my life, and that doesn't matter, that has no relation to F1 or whatever, does it? right? It's just life in general. You never know what happens what comes your way or what happens around you or what could influence you," he said.

The three-time world champion stated that he was happy with Red Bull at the moment and did not see a reason to leave them.

"So you can never say 100% that this is how it will be. And I address my life like that but I don't think about it too much either. I'm very relaxed. Like I said, I'm very happy with the team. So I'm happy in the team, the performance is there, there's no reason to leave," he added.

Despite being embroiled in controversies, Max Verstappen and Red Bull continued to dominate in the 2024 F1 season. They easily won the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.