Max Verstappen has admitted he 'wishes' a number of his former Red Bull colleagues had remained with the team, but insists the narrative around his personal situation is inaccurate. The Dutch-Belgian driver won four consecutive Formula 1 titles between 2021 and 2024, yet several key backroom staff who shared that success have since moved on.
Key Exits and Changes
Among those no longer at Red Bull are star designer Adrian Newey, now with Aston Martin, and ex-team principal Christian Horner, who was sacked last July. Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase remains at Red Bull but has agreed to join McLaren in a senior role from 2028. A number of mechanics and engineers have also left, sparking speculation about Verstappen's future amid the turnover of familiar faces.
Verstappen's Response
Speaking to RacingNews365, Verstappen said: People always like to focus on the negative; when people are leaving, they always make it out as if it's something very dramatic. Of course, sometimes you're like, 'I wish certain people would have stayed,' but that's life, and that's also what you see in other sports; sometimes people move on, they change.
He added: It's part of the culture and just how sports work in a way. It's hard always to keep a very successful group together. Those are always people that other teams are also trying to find, get the talent, and it's the same in football... So it's not uncommon. I feel like sometimes people have been a bit dramatic, a little bit too dramatic on that, that it only happens to us.
Verstappen's Leadership Role
Having been with Red Bull for a decade, Verstappen is among the team's longest-serving members. He sees himself as a leader 'just by being myself.' He explained: What I've done over all the years, I think, is build up a really good relationship with a lot of people, and just saying it how it is as well. Being very straightforward, because that's also how I like to operate: them to me, and me back to the team. So, that's how we try to do it.
He concluded: I think when you get older, you also understand it a little bit more, you get a bit more experience in life... It's been, honestly, very, very natural.
