Silverstone, 12 months later Only a year has passed since the sensational dismissal of Christian Horner from Red Bull, made official just after the British GP at Silverstone, yet it already seems like a lifetime ago. The farewell of the English manager seemed to have triggered a second honeymoon between the Milton Keynes team and Max Verstappen but today, 12 months later, day more or less, the champion’s entourage is once again at loggerheads with the team management. Indeed, the situation appears even worse given the emergency meeting held in the paddock (and certainly not far from prying eyes) between father Jos, manager Raymond Vermeulen and team representatives Oliver Mintzlaff and Laurent Mekies. Laurent Mekies talking to Raymond Vermeulen and Jos Verstappen outside the Red Bull motorhome post race. Penny for their thoughts… pic.twitter.com/lR4zZCt8AL— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) July 5, 2026 Performance, reliability, prospects: Red Bull’s weak points The problem is performance, of course, but not only. If in the past season Max would have had in his hands a car capable of making up for much of the delay from Lando Norris’s McLaren by playing for the title chances until Abu Dhabi, this year the situation seems decidedly less rosy: the RB22 is struggling, it seems to run on alternating current (very well, surprisingly, in Spielberg, decidedly bad in the second home race, that of Silverstone) and furthermore there is not even the prospect of an improvement in the ADUO, considering that in fact the Red power unit Bull Ford is considered the reference of the category and therefore will be the only one that will not be able to evolve between now and 2027. Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our contents more easily. Beyond performance and future prospects, there is also the poor reliability, which has already caused three retirements in this championship, with two scary off-track exits at very close range (qualifying in Austria and the GP in Great Britain) triggered by a malfunction of the rear wing mobile that sent Verstappen into the gravel at high speed. Max Verstappen at loggerheads with the management But that’s not all. The terrible climate in the garage would also complicate the plans: according to what was reported by Erik Van Haren in today’s edition of the Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper that has always been considered very close to the requests of the champion’s entourage, Max would be furious with the Red Bull engineers after having noted that for some races – the journalist specifically mentions the Montreal weekend – his suggestions in terms of set-up and strategies have no longer been followed. The controversy would then flare up further at Silverstone when Verstappen, after the disappointing performance in qualifying which he said was also caused by an engine problem, would have asked to replace the power unit and make profound changes to the set-up starting from the pit lane: a request which, however, met with strong opposition from the team. And it is here that the rather direct criticisms towards Red Bull would arise, with Max Verstappen who at the end of the race told Viaplay’s microphones that he “did not want to talk to anyone” and therefore did not want to clarify the misunderstandings with the team, after having also harshly criticized the risks to his health linked to the sudden failures of the rear mobile wing. An intolerance that would also be further fueled by the fact that for a few weeks the technical director Pierre Waché stopped sharing some information considered crucial with Max’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, in order to avoid possible leaks of information to McLaren’s rivals (i.e. to the team where “GP” will start working from 2028). The math is with Max: so Verstappen can free himself. The Telegraaf, however, also reports a certain intolerance on the part of the leaders of Milton Keynes towards the driver’s entourage, accused of not having wanted to renounce the performance clause which would allow him, at least in theory, to terminate the contract free of charge which expires in 2028 and therefore look for a team already for 2027. It is no coincidence that in recent weeks there has been talk of an emergency meeting held on June 10th in Austria where even the great Thai leader Chalerm Yoovidhya took the field to buy the clause and convince Max, with millions, to renounce it. An offer that the Dutchman’s manager instead returned to the sender, deciding to keep the doors open for the future and triggering a certain frustration in the team management. Indeed, according to the rumors circulating in the paddock, the possibility is now mathematical that the Dutchman will be able to activate the release clause by freeing himself from the link with Red Bull for next season: the 28-year-old would in fact be free to sign with whoever he wants, without financial compensation in Milton Keynes, in the event that he is not in the first two places in the World Championship rankings by the summer break. And, considering his 76 points, the 179 of the world championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and even the 154 of George Russell in second position, it is now mathematically certain that Max Verstappen will have the possibility (but not the obligation, obviously) to activate the exit clause even in the unlikely event that he wins the next two races and that all his rivals do not score points by the summer break.
Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News
2026-07-06 14:55:00
