Verstappen remains in a split: Chaos at Red Bull after absurd claim about Horner

You can say a lot about Christian Horner, but not that he has no clue how to engage with the media. The former Red Bull Racing team boss and CEO has enough connections to journalists, through whom he can always air his side of the story.

Don't be surprised if the intriguing story in The Sun comes straight from his own desk; a story in which an absurd claim is made.

Hardly anything ever emerges about what goes on within the headquarters of Red Bull. That's how closed off it is there. But it's simply unimaginable that Horner was fired for being British!

After all, Horner was also British 21 years ago, the moment he was appointed by Red Bull. And for 21 years - more than two decades - Horner has survived at the helm, despite being British?

The story in The Sun is clearly a way to throw Helmut Marko (top advisor to Red Bull Racing) and Oliver Mintzlaff (CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments of Red Bull GmbH) under the bus.

However, this article highlights how divided Red Bull still is internally. That there are staff members considering to leave now that Horner has been fired, is indeed true.

And in the meantime, Max Verstappen is seeking points of connection to continue his stay with Red Bull Racing. Of course, the four-time world champion did not expect that with Horner's departure everyone internally would fall back in line. Yet in his observations for the near future, the Dutchman would be wise to take this into account.

A team in which not everyone is heading in the same direction will not deliver the joint top performances to give Verstappen a car in 2026 with which he can compete for the title.

There is a lot to criticize about Mercedes, but it cannot be said that they do not function as one unit with all noses pointed in the same direction. At some point, you would think that Toto Wolff's team should benefit from this.