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“He’s a crucial member of the team, he enjoys being part of the team. He’s got a tremendous group around him. We know what the future looks like. Obviously a lot of noise been made about him going elsewhere, and sometimes one just thinks that that’s a distraction tactic that’s just thrown in.
“You have to question, what are the motives behind that? The driver that’s created all the movement in the market [Lewis Hamilton] had all the information about the engines and 2026 regulations and so on, and chose to leave and left a vacancy at Mercedes, which is why there has now been a little bit of speculation as to who will fill that seat – but it won’t be Max Verstappen.”
FP1: Verstappen bounces back from stoppage to lead Piastri in Austrian GP practice
Pushed further on why he believes that Wolff continues to show an interest in Verstappen, Horner added: “That’s a question you’d have to ask Toto. Max was pretty resolute in what he said in this conference yesterday.
“He’s always been absolutely consistent with that with the team. Why Toto [is making comments]… I think it’s purely a tactic of distraction.”
Reflecting on Verstappen’s continued run of success in Formula 1, Horner feels that the 26-year-old’s qualities put him on a par with some of the legends of the sport.
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