Max Verstappen issued a private warning to Red Bull’s Thai owners after deciding to sack Christian Horner

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Max Verstappen will be working with a very different Red Bull in the second half of 2025, after Christian Horner was relieved of his duties as team principal.

The 51-year-old’s sacking comes as Red Bull have regressed in performance over the past 12 months. Verstappen has struggled to match the pace of the McLarens in the RB21, which has increasingly frustrated him throughout the season.

The Dutchman considers himself out of the title race as he sits 81 points behind Oscar Piastri. Verstappen is losing faith in Red Bull’s technical department and has been demanding changes from the team in 2025 ahead of next year’s new regulations.

He got a major change after the British GP, as Horner was sacked after 20 years in charge. It had been reported that the four-time champion was pushing for his departure, but Verstappen’s camp have labelled these claims as ‘nonsense’.

Verstappen has sent several supportive messages to Horner since his sacking, proving that the pair have a strong relationship on and off the track. The 27-year-old has been facing questions regarding his future, as Mercedes continue their pursuit of Verstappen.

Max Verstappen told Chaleo Yoovidhya he needs to convince him that sacking Christian Horner was the ‘right call’

Horner’s place at Red Bull had almost become untenable, given the friction within the team, especially with Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko. He even ended up losing his closest allies, as the Thai ownership threatened to cut contact with Horner if he did not give up his responsibility of marketing.

Chaleo Yoovidhya, the majority shareholder of the Thai ownership, had been key in supporting Horner back in 2024, making his decision to sack him in 2025 more surprising. It was a big decision to make, and Verstappen has warned Yoovidhya of its consequences.

Journalist Nate Saunders says the Dutchman told the Thai owner that he will need to ‘convince’ him that sacking Horner was the ‘right call’. Verstappen has more favourable exit clauses in 2026, which could facilitate an easier departure if Red Bull cannot perform.

“Max has seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I was quite impressed with how he handled it; he didn’t throw Christian under the bus, he could easily have done that,” said Saunders via ESPN’s Unlapped podcast.

“He didn’t deflect. He just said: ‘Look, I’m the driver, they came to me.’ What I understand is, Chaleo Yoovidhya, who is the Thai majority shareholder we always talk about, came to visit him on the Tuesday night.

“They had dinner together and he said: ‘Look, this is the decision we’re making’, which is interesting because we kind of speculated as to why Horner might have lost his support, in terms of that shareholder had always had Horner’s backing.

“And by all accounts, Max said back to him: ‘OK, it’s a big change you’ve got to make. You’re going to have to convince me that that’s the right call, but you know, it’s your call to make, it’s not my call to make’.

“So, I think that Max has just kind of stepped away for it a little bit. And by Sunday evening, he was talking about how important the rest of this year is going to be for 2026, which we hadn’t heard him do before.”

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The Belgian Grand Prix proved to Max Verstappen that Red Bull are on the right track after Christian Horner’s exit

Verstappen will not join Mercedes in 2026, as he wants to assess the pecking order under the new regulations. Verstappen is not convinced by the strength of Mercedes’ engine, as the batteries are still an unknown for the teams.

However, the noises coming out of Milton Keynes about their 2026 power unit are concerning. Verstappen’s camp think he will have a ‘painful’ season with Red Bull’s engine next year, thus sparking speculation that he could be off to Mercedes in 2027.

The team have a lot of work to do to convince their star driver to stay put for the long term. Verstappen is feeling positive about working with Laurent Mekies, and his first race as team principal at the Belgian Grand Prix was encouraging.

Verstappen claimed the win in the Sprint and battled Charles Leclerc for a podium, while Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3, albeit he failed to score points. Mekies’ fresh approach could be just what Verstappen needs, but he has warned Red Bull that he could jump ship if improvements are not found.