Thursday’s media day forward of the Formulation 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was dominated by hypothesis over Max Verstappen’s future at Purple Bull. With senior advisor Helmut Marko expressing his concern that the four-time Drivers’ champion would possibly depart the staff, and experiences rising of Aston Martin making a stunning supply for his providers, the driving force used the FIA Press Convention to pour chilly water on the rumors.
Friday gave Purple Bull Staff Principal Christian Horner an opportunity to do the identical.
Talking with Sky Sports activities F1 the Purple Bull boss described the rumors as “noise,” and was adamant that Verstappen could be again with the staff subsequent yr.
“Noise is precisely the best phrase to explain it. There’s been lots of noise outdoors of the staff,” stated Horner.
“Max reaffirmed his dedication yesterday. We’re centered on making the automotive go quicker, that’s the place our focus is. Max is part of that, he’s a dedicated member of the staff. The remainder is all hypothesis.”
When requested immediately if Verstappen could be with Purple Bull in 2026, Horner didn’t hesitate.
“Sure, completely,” got here the response.
The latest spherical of hypothesis got here after a tough week for the staff on the Bahrain Grand Prix, which noticed their first double-points results of the season, however Verstappen left combating for sixth place in opposition to Pierre Gasly on the ultimate lap of the race. Whereas the Purple Bull driver was in a position to win that battle, there was stress within the paddock after the race, and experiences of a “disaster summit” amongst high-ranking staff officers.
Horner brushed these experiences apart as nicely.
“It was not a disaster summit. When you sit down together with your engineers and focus on the race, I wouldn’t describe that as a disaster summit,” stated Horner.
“We’ve a number of conferences. You sit down and focus on this stuff logically. There’s at all times engineering options to engineering points.
“We aren’t the place we wish to be. We’ve received some points with the automotive that we’re working via and the entire staff is working exhausting. We all know what the problems are, it’s introducing a collection of upgrades over the approaching races to deal with a few of these shortcomings.”
Horner’s feedback to Sky Sports activities F1 got here following the primary observe session in Jeddah, which noticed Verstappen end in P9 and teammate Yuki Tsunoda proper behind him in P10. The Purple Bull Staff Principal famous that the staff is attempting some new issues on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and that they’re attempting to be a “little radical” with their strategy.
“We try a number of various things this weekend, in order that session was all about attempting to be somewhat radical with a number of the set-up,” added Horner.
“We’ve lots to have a look at and ran the automobiles otherwise in first observe.”
The second observe session in Saudi Arabia begins momentarily, however whether or not this ends the hypothesis over Verstappen’s future stays to be seen.
