As Formula One rolled into the home of its first-ever Grand Prix, paddock rumours abounded that Max Verstappen’s management team had been talking to McLaren. A week ago in Austria, Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, had joked about the alleged meetings with Max’s representatives, suggesting they were merely a contingent should one of his drivers “slip on a banana skin.”
His refusal to deny any such exploratory talks had taken place led to Brown again being questioned over the alleged meetings. This time the American was more adamant when questioned again: ”They’re rumours? No conversations,” he grunted.
Red Bull’s Technical Turmoil
Whilst Red Bull have built the most powerful internal combustion engine, according to the FIA, their car is not living up to expectations. Despite his podiums in Canada and Austria, Max Verstappen has failed to finish three Grands Prix this season due to issues with the car.
The latest failures, which saw him in the wall in Austria and crashing out at Stowe in the final laps of the British Grand Prix, are due to aerodynamic failures related to the rear wing failing to close properly. The four-times world champion was said to be at odds with his team last season, which many believe led to the sacking of team boss Christian Horner, who built the team from scratch and oversaw fourteen world titles in just twenty years.
The Milton Keynes Brain Drain
The unrest in Milton Keynes has led to a number of high-profile individuals leaving the Red Bull Racing team, including Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley, guru car designer Adrian Newey, and the latest being Verstappen’s long-time race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, and last week his chief race engineer, Paul Monaghan.
Speaking ahead of the 2026 British Grand Prix, veteran F1 commentator and elder statesman of the sport, Martin Brundle, was asked about the cause of the Red Bull brain drain.
“My goodness, they wanted to torpedo the management of Red Bull, didn’t they? Team Verstappen did that very well indeed. To start with, Christian Horner, and it just carried on from there with Adrian Newey, Dr. Helmut Marko, and Jonathan Wheatley. Now we know Paul Monaghan is leaving. I think they did a bit too good a job of wanting to move some people out of the way there at Red Bull, did Team Verstappen.”
Jos Verstappen Strikes Back
Widely shared on social media, Brundle’s comments reached the hot-headed father of Max, Jos Verstappen. He angrily responded on Instagram: “Another idiot who thinks he knows what it’s like.” Yet the rumours of Max leaving Red Bull before the end of his contract continue to build.
Following the Red Bull big upgrade in Austria, team principal Laurent Mekies was candid about the hopes of holding on to their star driver. He spoke of the speed the team were bringing upgrades to the car and how the Austrian upgrade might be crucial in retaining Verstappen.
“We completely know that we need more steps. This weekend is quite a crucial step to try to get much closer and fight for bigger positions. It doesn’t mean that everything will be resolved this weekend, it means that we will need a bit of time to get the package to work – it’s very large.”
He went on to suggest that the improved performance of the car may well affect “the timing of discussions with Max.” In other words, time is short before Verstappen can activate a clause in his contract which would allow him to become a free agent before the end of its term.
“Super Dangerous” Mechanical Failures
Max was highly critical of the Red Bull team following his rear wing failure just four laps from the end of the British Grand Prix. He was looking good for his third podium of the season when the rear wing failed to reattach itself in the high-downforce position at the end of the Hangar Straight, something Max described as “super dangerous.”
“Yeah like Austria but a different fault, but let’s say it had the same outcome, so again, while turning into the corner, the rear wing is not fully attaching and you lose a lot of downforce with that—so spin off the track,” Verstappen explained. “At that point, it’s super dangerous because you can really hurt yourself two times. I was lucky in Austria, I was lucky here, but that’s why you get really fed up with it.”
Team principal Laurent Mekies was quick to defend his driver’s criticism, telling assembled media in Silverstone: “Look, he’s right not to be happy. It is very unusual. It is very unpleasant for drivers to be let down by the car in high-speed corners in two consecutive races, let it be for two different reasons. And it is, on a much slower scale, also extremely unpleasant for us as a group to send our drivers to the gravel trap. So he’s right to be unhappy.”
A Reunion on the Horizon?
Christian Horner was in attendance at the British Grand Prix, his first return to the paddock since his sacking almost exactly a year ago. He failed to meet with his once-star driver, although Max Verstappen explained this was not due to any animosity between the pair.
When asked why he had not caught up with his old team boss, Verstappen replied: “I speak to Christian almost every week. I saw him on the camera walking around, but I haven’t had time to meet anyone, to be honest. It’s just been busy.” When pressed on the topic of their regular telephone calls, “normal stuff” was Verstappen’s response. “Yeah. Like you do with your friends, or people that you’ve known for a long time.”
TJ13 has been reporting sources close to Aston Martin have revealed that a major announcement is imminent. With Adrian Newey floundering in his role as team principal and managing technical partner, we believe the team will appoint a new boss in Christian Horner—reuniting the dream team which built Red Bull Racing from the ashes of Jaguar F1 into Ferrari and Mercedes beaters.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
