“Get Rid of [Max] Verstappen and Not [Christian] Horner”: Red Bull Stakeholders Get a Piece of Advice From F1 Insider as He Declared the 3x Champ Most Expendable

As the power struggle between Christian Horner and the rest of the team continued, a new drama arose at the Red Bull quarters. Although there are rumors of the team principal wanting Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko off the team, Horner has strictly denied the claims. But as Max Verstappen‘s contract states, if Helmut Marko goes, so does the defending champion.

With the way things are progressing, it feels like one of the two parties will have to concede. While many sides with Verstappen and Marko, popular F1 journalist, Joe Saward, believes that Christian Horner should stay in the team if Red Bull wants to prosper. Even at the cost of losing the championship-winning driver.

As a journalist, Joe Saward has kept a keen eye on the Formula 1 scene for several years. The Red Bull incident is something that has even taken him by surprise. Talking about the Verstappen family going against Christian Horner, Saward said during the Missed Apex Formula 1 Podcast, “I was absolutely amazed when Jos Verstappen said that Horner would have to go. At that point, Max didn’t have many choices because he had to agree with his father or not. You can’t just sit there and say nothing.”

Explaining Max Verstappen’s reaction to this, Saward stated, “At that point, word reached Jeddah that Marko would be removed and at that point, Max said ‘Well, if that happens I’m not sure I’ll stay here.'” According to Saward, this has ruined the relationship between the driver and the boss. He further stated that he does not understand how the relationship will work beyond this season, even if they managed to stretch this one out. 

Saward spoke about what he would do as the team boss and said, “If I were the owner of Red Bull Racing I would get rid of Verstappen and not Horner because that is Team Horner. Even if he is the best driver in the world because, if you don’t want to destroy the team you don’t get rid of the team leader who built it.”

He explained what Horner has done for the team so far, “We are talking about a manager who has been there for 15 years and the idea that some Austrian could parachute into Milton Keynes to manage the racing team is simply madness. So if you’re trying to protect your investment from all these years and you want to make sure the team continues to do what it’s doing, don’t change the team, change the driver.”

With this, Saward made it clear that in his opinion, it should be the driver who should be removed from the team. If by any chance, there is a need for an ultimatum, it’s most likely that Max Verstappen will head to Mercedes considering his father’s alliance with Toto Wolff.

Will Max Verstappen be the redemption that Mercedes needs?

After the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton decided to leave the Silver Arrow for Ferrari, Toto Wolff has had the job of finding a replacement driver. But what would be better than replacing a world champion with another? Pretty much nothing. Especially considering Max Verstappen is showing more promise than anyone in the sport’s history.

But will this be enough for Mercedes to win the constructors again? Along with Max Verstappen, there will be George Russell, who has been pushing the W15 to its limits. But how will Verstappen work with the car of the next season? So far, Mercedes has shown a decline in their performance and that’s the main reason Lewis Hamilton left.

It all boils down to see if the 2025 Mercedes will be fast enough to let the Dutchman showcase his talents in yet another season. That is something we will need to wait and see. That being said, do you think Max Verstappen will continue to dominate the sport in Mercedes if he shifts? While we wait to see if that happens, you can let us know what you think will unfold in 2025 in the comments below.

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