Max Verstappen has arrived in Las Vegas, carrying the momentum of a late-season charge for the Drivers’ title. However, during Wednesday’s press conference, the Dutchman faced a rather “weird question.” A media person asked whether his recent resurgence would have been possible had Christian Horner still been Red Bull’s team principal, which sparked an uncharacteristically sharp response from the four-time Champion. Red Bull has seen a major summer shake-up. Horner’s exit after a long internal investigation ended a leadership tenure that stretched back to the team’s first championships in the late 2000s. Laurent Mekies stepped up from the sister outfit, and Red Bull’s form spiked shortly after. When the numbers were laid out to Verstappen in Las Vegas, the question followed, and he didn’t hide his disbelief. “I find it a really weird question. I don’t know why that would be suddenly now, that we closed 49 points like that? I don’t know. You can fill it in yourself,” he said in the FIA press conference in Las Vegas. “I think we’ve done a very good job the last few races. What else can I say? We try everything that we can. The car has been good at some places, maybe not so good at others. But that’s it.” Max Verstappen won three consecutive races from pole and has not finished outside the podium in the last seven races since Mekies took over. That run brought him back into the title fight that looked dead when he trailed Oscar Piastri by over 100 points after the Dutch GP. Despite the pointed exchange, Verstappen has not shied away from acknowledging Christian Horner’s role in Red Bull’s rise. After the summer switch, he described the atmosphere inside the team as “it feels like a family again.” Horner, meanwhile, is exploring his next steps after presiding over two different eras of Red Bull dominance, winning six constructors and eight drivers’ titles. Rumors in the paddock now link him to possible investor-driven roles, including a potential push to establish a 12th team should the right partners emerge. Max Verstappen labels title hopes “unlikely” despite late-season surge Max Verstappen’s comeback drive in Brazil remains one of the year’s standout performances. Starting from the pit lane after Red Bull made sweeping setup changes after a Q1 exit, he surged through the field to finish P3 and nearly snatched P2. His nine-race stretch of 176 points, three victories, and seven podiums has put him back within range. The 49-point deficit to Lando Norris is still steep. Oscar Piastri sits second on 366, with Verstappen third on 341 as the grid enters the final three rounds. When asked about his title chances, Verstappen didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “Same as always. Doesn’t really change,” he said in the press conference. “I mean, it’s a lot of points, so I’m not really thinking about it too much, because there’s also not much that I can do. We need a lot of luck now ’til the end to even have an opportunity. So I, personally, don’t think about that.” Las Vegas has been a good venue for Max Verstappen. He won the inaugural 2023 race and has been competitive on the Strip Circuit’s long straights and heavy-braking layout.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-max-verstappen-silences-reporter-s-weird-question-christian-horner-ahead-las-vegas-gp
