The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, has warned that there is no guarantee the team can hang on to their three-time world champion Max Verstappen should he choose to leave, as the impact from another turbulent weekend for the team continues to be felt.

After a fractious race meeting in Saudi Arabia, Red Bull’s travails off the track far overshadowed Verstappen’s second dominant win of the season in Jeddah, including the 26-year-old world champion threatening he could quit Red Bull. Horner conceded that if Verstappen wanted to join another team, Red Bull could not stop him. When asked about the potential for Verstappen to leave before his contract is up in 2028, Horner admitted it remained a realistic possibility.

“It’s like anything in life, you can’t force somebody to be somewhere just because of a piece of paper,” he said. “If somebody didn’t want to be in this team, then we’re not going to force somebody against their will to be here. That applies whether it is a machine operator or a designer or someone in one of the support functions that runs through the business.”