Jos Verstappen was the unlikely saviour of Max Verstappen’s 2025 title ambitions at Red Bull

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Max Verstappen all but ruled himself out of the F1 title race after the Sao Paulo GP earlier this month. But after he won the Las Vegas Grand Prix at the weekend and the two McLarens were disqualified, he has roared back into contention.

Once 104 points off the pace, Verstappen is now just 24 behind Lando Norris with another 58 points available. The title remains unlikely but it’s no longer unrealistic.

At the end of the season, Christian Horner’s sacking may be viewed as the turning point. Horner’s tenure at Red Bull was one of the most successful in F1 history but it had perhaps gone stale.

Laurent Mekies came in and oversaw an almost immediate upturn, re-energising the team on and off the track.

Jos Verstappen ‘demanded’ that Christian Horner was sacked

According to Sky Germany, Max Verstappen himself was ‘relatively quiet’ about Horner behind the scenes. This contradicts previous claims that Verstappen gave Red Bull an ultimatum, threatening to leave unless there was a change of regime.

Sky’s report states that it was Jos who ‘loudly demanded’ that Horner was removed from his post. When the Red Bull ownership agreed, ‘calm returned’ to the environment.

The relationship between Verstappen Sr and Horner surely played a part in the final decision. It was creating a wedge between the team and their most important asset.

Mekies reversed Horner’s plan to stop 2025 development and continued to upgrade the RB21 aggressively. Without this U-turn, it’s hard to see how Verstappen could have scored enough points to put McLaren under pressure.

What has Jos Verstappen said about the turnaround at Red Bull?

Speaking at the start of last month, Jos Verstappen noted that everyone at Red Bull was ‘laughing’ again. Mekies’ ‘cheerful and friendly’ demeanour had clearly instigated the change.

Verstappen feels his son is in ‘good hands’ with Mekies, which gives him ‘a lot of peace of mind’. He considers the possibility of winning the 2025 title a ‘huge bonus’.

Many Red Bull staff were fiercely loyal to Horner, but it’s clear that his internal rivalries were generating tension during his final months in charge.