Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has opened up on the lesser-known details of Christian Horner's exit and if the departure has affected him in any way. The four-time world champion confirmed that he knew about Horner's ousting in advance, revealing that the Red Bull management decided to follow an alternate approach.

New Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies stressed that four-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen is "central" to the project of bringing the team back to the top. "Max is central to the project and he's key to the project and we need his magic at the racetrack.

Max Verstappen has been even more heavily linked with a move from Red Bull to F1 rivals Mercedes since long-serving team boss Christian Horner was replaced by Laurent Mekies

Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda was outqualified by Verstappen for the 12th time in as many qualifying sessions since he joined Red Bull, failing to reach Q3/SQ3 for the seventh time in a row; his deficit on the Dutchman was six tenths, and he ended up 12th. It is worth noting that he was not given the upgrades that Verstappen is running this weekend.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has named George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli as the team's priority for the 2026 Formula One season. The revelation comes after Max Verstappen was strongly linked to Mercedes.

Major headlines include updates to Max Verstappen’s potential Mercedes move, as well as some potential changes to the F1 rulebook. Rumours have abounded that reigning champion Max Verstappen is in discussions with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff regarding a possible move to the team in 2026.