Mercedes driver George Russell hasn’t missed an opportunity to take a subtle jab at his “rival” Max Verstappen, forming a clear idea of the reasons behind the departure of the former Red Bull team principal.
Hot topics in the new season of Drive to Survive
The release of the new season of Drive to Survive, as every year, has caused a stir due to early teasers from Netflix ahead of the series’ streaming debut. One of the hottest topics across the eight episodes – set to premiere on Friday, 27 February – is Christian Horner’s dismissal from Red Bull last summer. This came at the peak of a long period of tension within the team’s garage, tensions that the English manager had helped create, shape, and lead to victory over the last 20 years.
Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull
The cameras of Formula 1: Drive to Survive – a series not always appreciated by so-called “purist” fans, but undeniably giving access to situations that F1 journalists cannot witness – promise to reveal details and behind-the-scenes moments of Christian Horner’s sensational exit from the Milton Keynes team. Some previews even feature Horner’s perspective on the dismissal: according to the 52-year-old, the push for a leadership change came from Red Bull’s top executive, Oliver Mintzlaff, assisted by Helmut Marko, who for the past couple of years has been the staunchest critic of the former team principal.
“Blame” the Verstappen family?
Not everyone agrees with this view. Recent teasers about the episode covering Horner’s departure indicate that George Russell, when interviewed by the Netflix producers, directly pointed the finger at his long-standing “enemy” Max Verstappen and his entourage: “The Verstappens clearly have enormous influence within the team, and they really enjoy manipulating certain situations. For some reason, they didn’t particularly like Horner and tried to push him out. I wonder if this isn’t a sort of psychological game with Red Bull, designed to put pressure on the team by making it clear that Christian would only stay if he left.”
The rivalry between Max Verstappen and George Russell dates back a long way, flaring up at the end of the 2024 season. During qualifying for the Qatar GP, the Dutch driver was penalized by the FIA race control for allegedly impeding the Englishman. However, Russell was accused of “simulating” the impediment, as he wasn’t on a flying lap and thus had no real right of way on track. Russell’s comments, made “hot” in the wake of the Red Bull boss’s exit, contrast with Christian Horner’s own interpretation, who explicitly blamed Oliver Mintzlaff and Marko for his departure, clearing Max and Jos Verstappen of any responsibility.
George Russell’s provocative theory in the latest Drive to Survive installment adds another layer of intrigue to the 2026 F1 paddock dynamics. While the official narrative points to a corporate restructuring led by Red Bull’s high-ranking executives, Russell’s comments suggest that the personal rift between the Verstappens and Horner played a far more central role in the team’s leadership collapse than the public was led to believe.
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