Exasperated by the bleak picture painted around Red Bull for several months, Max Verstappen has broken his silence. In an interview with RacingNews365, the four-time world champion wanted to defend his team and put into perspective the departure of key figures from Milton Keynes.
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Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Will Courtenay, Gianpiero Lambiase next year, not to mention the departure of Christian Horner: the list of historic figures who have left Red Bull in the past two years constantly fuels rumors of a decline of the Austrian team.
But for Max Verstappen, these repeated departures are far from marking the end of an era.
Verstappen: “People like to focus on the negative”
For the Dutch driver, this staff turnover is simply part of the normal dynamics of high-level sport, much like a summer transfer window in football.
“People always like to focus on the negative. When people leave, they always present it as something very dramatic,” regrets the Red Bull driver in an interview with RacingNews365.
“Of course, there are departures we would like to avoid, but that’s life and that’s how sport works. It’s difficult to keep a winning group intact for very long, because other teams are also looking to recruit these talents. I feel like it’s being blown out of proportion, as if it only happens to us. People come and go all the time.”
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Strong recruitment and an affirmed leadership role
To support his point, the Dutchman recalls that Red Bull continues to attract big names. The recent arrival of Gwen Lagrue, the architect of Mercedes’ young driver program (which notably propelled George Russell and Kimi Antonelli), proves that the structure retains strong appeal.
In this major transition phase — marked by Laurent Mekies’ leadership, the integration of Isack Hadjar, and the Red Bull-Ford engine project — Verstappen embraces more than ever his role as technical and moral leader within the team.
“Being direct and saying things as they are is my way of operating,” explains the winner of 71 Grands Prix. “With age and experience, you understand things better. This leadership role settled very naturally.”
By reaffirming his attachment to his second family, Verstappen also seeks to put out the other big paddock saga: his own future.
While persistent rumors regularly send the Dutchman to other horizons (Mercedes and McLaren at the forefront), this reminder shows a champion still deeply invested in the Austrian project. It remains to be seen if the team’s sporting trajectory will be enough to definitively seal his loyalty in the long term.
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