Max Verstappen has revealed that he remained in contact with ousted ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner during his and the team’s stunning 2025 Formula 1 comeback.
The Dutchman mounted an extraordinary resurgence in the final third of the season, overturning a deficit of over 100 points to lose out on the title by just two at the final round.
Verstappen scored five wins from the resumption of the summer break in August and finished on the podium in all other races.
It set up an unlikely but thrilling showdown against the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Norris just managing to wrestle the title from him.
At the time of Horner’s firing from the Milton Keynes-based squad in July, both the team and Verstappen were down and out, and seemingly out of contention.
But under the direction of Laurent Mekies, it continued to develop its tricky RB21 car to give Verstappen a platform to make a firm challenge.
Verstappen told Viaplay that the team’s shareholders were keen for a change, which led to the split with Horner, something he indicated he felt sadness over.
“Things weren’t going well within the team in terms of results, and there was a bit of unrest, and when things aren’t going well for a while, it’s the shareholders who want to see change,” he said.
“Ultimately, it’s just difficult because you’ve built up a bond with Christian and achieved so much together, especially those moments in 2021, which you’ll never forget.
“Christian ultimately went through fire for me, and things like that are difficult when you talk to each other on the phone.”
Verstappen praises Horner for ‘achieving a great deal’ with Red Bull F1 successes
When asked if that meant Verstappen had indeed continued to speak to the 51-year-old – who is thought to be plotting his return to F1 – he revealed he had.
“Every week, during every race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” he explained.
“He sends me messages, for example, but we also keep in touch during holidays. It’s more about him saying: ‘I wish you the best of luck, and I believe in you. I’m your biggest fan, blah blah’, but also about what we’ve all been through.
“In those kinds of situations and beyond, you also talk about things other than racing. We are in contact every race weekend, even after his dismissal.”
Of course, Horner’s exit and Mekies’ arrival saw a huge spike in improvement from the Red Bull team, which, to many, may have made the decision to dismiss the former look correct.
But Verstappen was cautious about taking a view similar to this, instead praising Horner’s involvement in the team’s rise from newcomers in 2005 to eight-time F1 champions.
“I want to be careful about how I express that, I don’t want to disparage Christian, because he has obviously achieved a great deal in the team, and others have yet to achieve that,” he said.
“He also brought people into the team who helped us achieve this, and when things aren’t going well, you see changes happening in other sports too.”
Verstappen, having committed his future to Red Bull earlier in the summer, will now prepare for the 2026 season ahead of its new engine alliance with Ford, and with new team-mate Isack Hadjar.
READ MORE – Max Verstappen slams ‘weird question’ about Red Bull revival since Christian Horner firing
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