Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, has dismissed claims that the team held a “crisis summit” in the aftermath of last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

And he insisted that Max Verstappen will remain with the team for the F1 2026 season amid rumours that Aston Martin are preparing a $300million offer for the four-time World Champion.

Christian Horner rejects Red Bull ‘crisis’ claims as Max Verstappen future addressed

Following their uncompetitive end to last season, Red Bull have endured a troubled start to the F1 2025 campaign with Verstappen winning just one of the opening four races.

The team’s patchy form has raised concerns that Verstappen, who is officially under contract at Red Bull until the end of 2028, could leave the team at the end of this season.

Horner previously confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element” allowing him to leave Red Bull before 2028 if the team fail to provide a competitive car.

Mercedes and Aston Martin have been persistently linked with moves for Verstappen over the last 12 months.

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It was claimed at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, where Verstappen recorded his worst result of the season by finishing sixth, that his manager Raymond Vermeulen gave Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko “a piece of his mind” in the aftermath of the race.

PlanetF1.com understands from sources close to the situation that no such confrontation took place with Marko not singled out for criticism.

However, it is believed that Verstappen’s management made their feelings known to the team.

Speaking to Sky F1 on Friday ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Horner insisted that the situation at Red Bull could not be described as a “crisis” meeting on Sunday night in Bahrain.

He said: “No, it’s not a crisis summit.

“If you sit down with your engineers and discuss the race, I wouldn’t describe that as a crisis summit.

“You sit down and you discuss these things logically. There’s always engineering solutions to engineering issues.”

Horner rejected the notion that Red Bull are in “crisis” at all with the team understanding and working to resolve the current issues with the RB21 car.

It is believed that the car’s aerodynamic balance moves rearwards too quickly when the brakes are released, resulting in mid-corner understeer, with Verstappen complaining publicly about the car’s “through-corner balance” over recent weeks.

PlanetF1.com revealed on Thursday that Red Bull have made some minor updates to the RB21 for the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, with further improvements planned for the next race in Miami before a larger upgrade package arrives at next month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

Horner added: “No, there’s not a crisis.

“We’re not where we want to be. We’ve got some issues with the car that we’re working through and the whole team is working incredibly hard.

“I think we understand what the issues are. It’s introducing a series of upgrades over the coming races to try and address some of those shortcomings.”

It has been speculated over recent months that Verstappen will be free to trigger an exit clause in his contract if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ standings after a significant part of the the F1 2025 season, with Marko revealing that the summer break will be the “relevant” period.

However, Sky F1’s Martin Brundle raised the suggestion that Verstappen’s contract clause applies to the end of June, around the time of Red Bull’s home race in Austria.

Horner insisted that speculation surrounding Verstappen’s future remains just “noise”, pointing to the driver’s claim on Thursday in Jeddah that “a lot of people are talking about [my future] except me.”

Horner said: “I think ‘noise’ is exactly the right word to describe it.

“There’s been a lot of noise outside of the team, inside the team. I think Max again reaffirmed his commitment yesterday.

“We’re focused on making the car go faster. That’s where our focus is.

“Max is part of that. He’s a committed member of the team and the rest is all speculation and hearsay.”

Asked directly by Brundle if he is “certain” that Verstappen will still be a Red Bull driver at the first race of F1 2026, he replied: “Yeah, absolutely.”

Put to him that Marko, who admitted in Bahrain that there is “great” concern that Verstappen will leave, does not seem so convinced, Horner added: “Yes, but I think that people are always going to have their concerns.

“I think, as a team, we are focused very much on sorting this car out. Sort the car out, it [Max’s potential exit] doesn’t even become a discussion point.”

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A report in Italy claimed on Friday that Aston Martin are preparing an offer of $300million to tempt Verstappen away from Red Bull.

In a statement provided to PlanetF1.com, however, an Aston Martin spokesperson insisted that the team remain committed to their current drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who are under contract until at least the end of 2026.

An Aston Martin spokesperson said: “It’s normal for the media to speculate on driver market, but we have an amazing driver line-up that we are committed to and who are under contract for 2026 and beyond.

“Our focus is on delivering for our drivers by giving them a more consistent and competitive car.

“When we do, they are both capable of delivering great results.”

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