“Max is a key part of our team and has been for pretty much ten years now,” Horner said. “The intention is to keep that going. But one day, whether it’s the year after or the year after, there will be a day that there is no more Max.
“You always have to have that in mind, that the team always has to keep looking and investing in the future. Hopefully that won’t be for several years to come, but you never know.
“So, you’re always investing in young talent, you’re always giving opportunities like we did [at Silverstone] with Arvid Lindblad, to see the next generation coming through. Because one thing for sure in this business, nothing stands still.”
Prescient words looking back on them, at a time when Horner even tried to highlight the past viewpoints of the late Dietrich Mateschitz to back-up his comments. Perhaps a little reminder of not only how the team came into existence, but came to be so successful over the past two decades.
Departure of Red Bull’s previous superstar driver didn’t spell the end of success
Mathias Kniepeiss/Getty via Red Bull
“I remember Dietrich Mateschitz telling me at the time [Sebastian Vettel left in 2014], ‘we don’t need the best driver if we don’t have the best car’. At that stage, it was about building a team.
“Things go in cycles and sport goes in cycles. We’ve had two incredibly successful cycles in Formula 1, and what we want to do is build towards the next cycle. Now, of course, we want that to be with Max, but we understand the pressure that there is next year, with us coming in as a new power unit manufacturer.
“The challenge of that is enormous. But we’ve got a hugely capable group of people. We’ve invested significantly. We’ve got a great culture within the team. Who knows? To expect us to be ahead of Mercedes next year is… It would be embarrassing for Mercedes if we were, or for any manufacturer. But I think we’re going to be in a competitive position, potentially even to where we are today relative to our other PU manufacturers.
“There’s everything to play for. What’s great is having it all under one roof, chassis engineers sitting next to engine engineers. That shouldn’t be underestimated when you’re talking about the packaging.
“When you’ve got the ability to have those groups communicating and talking with each other directly over a cup of coffee and within the same facility, that is priceless, and that will pay dividends. Maybe it won’t be in ’26, but ’27, ’28, and beyond, long term for Red Bull, 100% it is the right thing.”