‘I Wish Certain People Had Stayed’: Max Verstappen Opens Up on High-Profile Red Bull Exits and Dismisses ‘Overly Dramatic’ Paddock Gossip

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has admitted he wishes several key figures had remained with Red Bull following a wave of high-profile departures from the Milton Keynes team. The Dutch-Belgian driver, who dominated the grid during an extraordinary championship-winning run between 2021 and 2024, has watched a significant portion of the backroom team that engineered his title victories move on to fresh challenges. The ongoing exodus of talent across various technical, engineering, and managerial departments has fueled intense paddock speculation regarding the long-term stability of the squad and Verstappen’s own future with the team. However, while acknowledging his personal regret over losing trusted colleagues, the 28-year-old superstar has hit back at media narratives surrounding the turnover, dismissing claims of internal crisis as overly dramatic and insisted that personnel movement is simply an inevitable reality of professional sport.

The departures from Red Bull over recent years include some of the most respected names in the Formula 1 paddock. Master designer Adrian Newey parted ways with the squad to take up a lucrative new technical role at Aston Martin, while former team principal Christian Horner exited after being sacked last July. Furthermore, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase—who has worked alongside Verstappen in the pit garage throughout his title-winning years—remains with the team for the immediate future but has already agreed to join McLaren to assume a more senior management position starting in 2028. Alongside these headline exits, a steady stream of mechanics and engineers have also departed Milton Keynes, prompting ongoing debates across the paddock about whether the championship-winning structure is splintering under pressure from rival teams.

‘That’s Just How Sports Work’: Verstappen Draws Football Parallels to Explain Staff Turnover

Addressing the ongoing narrative surrounding the staff departures, Verstappen offered a pragmatic assessment during a candid interview with RacingNews365, arguing that critics and commentators often exaggerate the impact of routine personnel changes within a successful organization. The Red Bull driver explained that maintaining a victorious unit over a prolonged period is notoriously difficult in any competitive environment, as rival organizations will relentlessly target top-tier talent. Drawing direct comparisons to European football, Verstappen noted that when an individual or group achieves exceptional success, rival outfits will inevitably extend lucrative offers to entice those individuals away, whether in player roles or management structures.

Rather than viewing the departures as a unique crisis facing Red Bull, Verstappen stressed that personnel coming and going is a standard feature across all elite sports. While he openly admitted that he would have preferred certain key individuals to stay at Milton Keynes, he emphasized that professional mobility is a natural evolution that every team must navigate. By treating staff turnover as a standard industry phenomenon rather than an unprecedented disaster, the four-time champion attempted to pour cold water on sensationalized media claims suggesting the team is falling apart from within.

“People always like to focus on the negative; when people are leaving, they always make it out as if it’s something very dramatic,” Max Verstappen told RacingNews365. “Of course, sometimes you’re like, ‘I wish certain people would have stayed,’ but that’s life, and that’s also what you see in other sports; sometimes people move on, they change. It’s part of the culture and just how sports work in a way. It’s hard always to keep a very successful group together.”

“Those are always people that other teams are also trying to find, get the talent, and it’s the same in football: when you see a great player, but then there’s another club that wants the player, they will do everything they can to get the player, or in a management structure,” Verstappen added. “So it’s not uncommon. I feel like sometimes people have been a bit dramatic, a little bit too dramatic on that, that it only happens to us. People are leaving, they’re coming and going all the time. That’s just part of the sport in a way.”

A Decade Behind the Wheel: Leading Red Bull Through Experience and Straightforward Communication

Having spent a decade driving for Red Bull, Verstappen now ranks among the longest-serving members inside the garage, placing him in an increasingly vital leadership position as the team navigates its current transition. Reflecting on his evolving role within the squad, the Dutch driver explained that his approach to leading the team has developed organically over time without requiring a forced or artificial persona. By remaining true to his authentic character and maintaining open lines of communication with engineers and mechanics, he has built a foundation of trust that helps stabilize the garage environment during periods of roster movement.

Verstappen emphasized that his leadership style relies heavily on direct, unfiltered transparency—a trait that defines both his communication with team personnel and his expectations in return. He believes that clear, honest dialogue between a driver and their engineering team is essential for maintaining performance standards, particularly when new staff members are integrated into the garage structure. As he has matured and accumulated life experience in Formula 1, navigating the personal and professional dynamics of the team has become a completely natural process.

“What I’ve done over all the years, I think, is build up a really good relationship,” Verstappen explained when discussing his role inside the garage. “Being very straightforward, because that’s also how I like to operate: them to me, and me back to the team. So, that’s how we try to do it.”

“I think when you get older, you also understand it a little bit more, you get a bit more experience in life,” the four-time world champion concluded. “You grow up a bit more with… you experience many more things with the people in the team as well. So it’s been, honestly, very, very natural.”

Focus on Stability and Future Challenges as Red Bull Adapt to Paddock Realities

While the departure of key figures like Adrian Newey, Christian Horner, and eventually Gianpiero Lambiase marks the end of an iconic chapter in Red Bull’s history, Verstappen’s calm response underscores a determination to remain focused on the road ahead. The team’s ability to recruit top-tier replacements and adapt to ongoing changes will be critical as they look to maintain their competitive edge at the sharp end of the grid.

Despite the ongoing speculation regarding his own future and the revolving door of personnel in Milton Keynes, Verstappen’s decade-long commitment to the squad remains a central anchor for Red Bull. By maintaining his straightforward approach and leaning on his extensive experience, the Dutch driver continues to lead the team from the front, unfazed by external headlines as Red Bull adjust to the reality of life in modern Formula 1.