I think he has said that various times. I think there was always context though. Hamilton, Alonso being around in their late 30’s/40s - that gives Max at least another 8 years (and I could see him being done at 35). Leaving because he was dissatisfied with the direction F1 was going in. The swearing stuff. Wanting to win LeMans. … I’m also sure Hamilton said similar quite a while back but he’s just signed a contract into his early 40s, so I’m disinclined to believe any of them to be honest, at least until they actually seem fed up. Ultimately in Max’s case he spent 13 years or so of his life working towards being in F1 - without some external motivating factor you’d think that’s a big sacrifice for a 10 year career - I’d definitely be looking at 15-20 years if it was going well/enjoyable and would still consider that stopping early. Then you have to consider he’s already widely regarded as the best driver since Schumacher with a good chance of pushing past that to best ever status - what competitive person would walk away from that opportunity?
I think his long term plans will be dependant on what cars are available. I'm not saying he will quit if he isn't in the fastest car but IF he has a car that can win on a good day that will be enough to keep him there.
I `m getting the feeling that Yuki Tsunoda is being watched by the evil eye of Helmet already. Hadjar is now the flavour of the week and has made a favorable impression on the wicked Marco.
I’ve talked before about a RedBull 3.0 (1.0 was Vettel & Renault, 2.0 Verstappen & Honda eras), but now the dust has settled on the last few days, I’ve come to realise just how big this transformation needs to be. The evolution from 1.0 to 2.0 took a long time, but a huge part of that was finding and building with Honda and also having to overturn the biggest competitive advantage the sport has probably ever seen. Through that, you had corporate stability and Marshall Wheatley, Newey and Horner all of whom are now gone. Mercedes - with a lot more stability - have spent 4 years trying to get back to the top and arguably are no further forward than they’ve ever been since 2022. You can argue the stability vs.revolution as opportunity or risk, and there’s no doubt that RedBull has or shortly will have some of the best facilities on the grid, but honestly it feels like a revolution as big as anything Aston or Williams are aiming to achieve. McLaren have done something similar over the last decade, but the list of those who haven’t is far longer. RedBull have been the challenged or the closest challenger for most of the last fifteen years, for them to be back in that position in 2026 would I think be a miracle. More likely we’re witnessing a seismic change in the competitive order, similar to the end of Lotus as a competitive force, or the end of the Schumacher era Ferrari.
There seems to be lots of talk about which team Horner may go to. Then there are other stories that he has 5 years on his contract so they have to pay him off! If they have to pay him off then surely they just keep employing him for the next 5 years on same pay and he's on gardening leave. That way they stop any team getting him for 6 years and it doesn't cost them any more? There is also talk of his payoff having to be made within the budget cap as it was only 2020 and 2021 when the budget caps came in that 'redundancy' payments didn't come off budgets.... Interesting to see how it plays out. Much as you have to admire the results the team have had under his leadership, from what I have seen I don't like him.
I can’t see the budget cap part being true as the top three most highly paid employees are excluded and he must be one of those. He’s also now no longer working on F1, which would anyhow take him out of scope.
