Christian Horner will be worried by Max Verstappen’s reaction to his final unheard radio message at the Miami Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen’s fourth place at the Miami Grand Prix detailed yet more cause for concern at Red Bull.

Despite starting from pole position, the Dutchman was eventually overtaken by the dominant McLaren drivers and finished more than 30 seconds behind eventual winner Oscar Piastri. Red Bull once again struggled for outright pace.

Frustration must be mounting for Verstappen now, whose valiant defence wasn’t enough to squeeze a podium from the Miami Grand Prix.

He’s now 32 points from the drivers’ championship lead after just six rounds. He needs effective upgrades to come his way soon.

Christian Horner expects Verstappen to be at Red Bull in 2026, but there can be no guarantees given due to their recent form.

Verstappen is losing confidence in Red Bull, and it’s only going to be so long before he starts shopping around elsewhere to test the Formula 1 driver market.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen furious with ‘inconsistent’ Red Bull issue in unheard radio messages during the Miami Grand Prix

Christian Horner will be worried about Max Verstappen’s silence at the Miami Grand Prix

Damon Hill was ‘quite surprised’ by Verstappen in Miami and intrigued by his steering inputs while battling the McLaren drivers.

He felt that on lap one, the reigning champion had purposefully driven Lando Norris off the track by jerking his wheel to the right.

The rest of the race was all downhill from there, as he fell victim to an ill-timed Virtual Safety Car and was overtaken by George Russell.

He didn’t have the pace to catch him by the end, and finished off the podium for just the second time ever after starting from pole position.

The radio silence he produced after the race was telling, despite encouragement from team boss Christian Horner.

“Hard luck today Max, we just weren’t quick enough,” he said. “You got everything out of this you could and unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car with Russell.”

READ MORE: Martin Brundle loved how ‘cat-like’ Max Verstappen emulated Michael Schumacher in Oscar Piastri battle at the Miami Grand Prix

Could Max Verstappen swap teams ahead of the 2026 F1 season?

If Red Bull continue to plummet down the standings, there is the potential that a clause could be activated which would release Verstappen from his contract early.

Verstappen moving to Aston Martin is ‘out of the question’ and hopes that an upgrade at the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix can give him a new lease of life.

While his Milton Keynes-based team are competitive, he has no reason to leave. They just need to keep delivering.

Verstappen has ‘given his word’ to Horner and has said that he will remain at Red Bull as long as they remain competitive.

Now it’s up to his team to deliver the goods and ensure that they can keep hold of their superstar driver well into the future.