SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Max Verstappen doesn’t think Christian Horner’s firing at Red Bull “will matter at all” amid speculation that he could leave the team after this season.

“Life is unpredictable, but in general I’m very happy where I’m at and I hope — and it was still the target that we set out when we signed the new deal — that I would drive here until the end of my career,” Verstappen said Thursday at the Belgian Grand Prix.

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Verstappen has won the last four F1 titles while racing under Horner but sits third this year behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

“The relationship between myself and Christian, that doesn’t change,” Verstappen said. “Of course, he’s not here now during a race weekend, but he’s still like a second family to me.”

Verstappen’s contract at Red Bull runs through 2028 but there have been indications that a performance-related clause could allow him to exit earlier. The exact details are not public.

“I don’t think it will matter at all for my decision in the future, and the only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can,” Verstappen said. “The last one and a half years have not been what we want to be. Now we try and be more competitive this year a little bit, but for sure also with the new regulations.”

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Laurent Mekies of sister team Racing Bulls replaced Horner as team principal.

“I’ve had a few meetings with him already,” Verstappen said. “I cannot say right now within two weeks of not even action on track that suddenly everything is different or better, but we are trying to be better and it’s been good.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing