Horner: A billion dollars an eye-wateringly large amount for a driver

Verstappen's future at Red Bull Racing has been in the spotlight since the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season following Horner's sexting scandal that turned into a mini-civil war within Red Bull, and the speculation went into overdrive when Adrian Newey announced his departure to join Aston Martin.

The fact that Red Bull struggled in 2024 with Verstappen's skills behind the wheel of an F1 car, the only reason he retained his F1 crown, has not helped put the rumors regarding the Dutchman's future to bed.

Recently a report emerged claiming that Aston Martin was willing to offer Verstappen a $1-Billion contract, and Horner was asked about it during the F1 75 Live launch event last Tuesday.

He quipped: "I know you guys [the media] have all got column inches to fill over a winter period, but a billion-pound driver, a billion dollars, it would be an eye-wateringly large amount of money.

"I think Max is very happy in the environment that he’s in. He’s grown up in the team, he has a great relationship with the team, the engineers, the technicians and everybody that he works with.

“It’s down to us to provide a competitive car and continue to give him the platform to be able to achieve the results that he has over the last almost 10 years," the Briton maintained.

When quizzed whether such an amount is something Aston Martin, or any other team, can realistically pay, Horner responded: "I can’t comment on other teams’ finances.

"But Red Bull are relatively well-positioned, I would think, compared to others within the pit lane," he concluded.

Verstappen was also asked about the billion-dollar report; he joked saying it was "a lot of money" and the he added: "Honestly, when I read that, it’s the first time that I saw something like that.

"The only contact that I had with them was about GT3 for this year. That’s it. There’s not much to say, really, because there isn’t anything.”

And when asked about the GT3 contact, the Dutchman said: "It’s not me personally driving, but I’m starting my own team for this year with the drivers, so, of course, some things need to be in place."