Read Bull may quit Formula 1 if they lose star driver Max Verstappen according to team principal Christian Horner. 

New footage has emerged of Horner speaking on the set of Netflix series 'Drive to Survive' in which he suggests that if they were to lose their number one driver, they would be forced to back away from F1.

Horner said: “The reality is, Red Bull make an energy drink worldwide, Formula 1 is a platform to promote and advertise it.

"If this new relationship with Honda doesn’t work, if we lose Max Verstappen, then you’d have to question Red Bull’s long-term commitment to Formula 1."

Red Bull had a busy winter as they were keen to tie down their star man with a contract until 2023 and to renew their Honda engine deal, if only for the short term. 

While the long term contract for Verstappen will go some way to ensuring that Red Bull stay within the sport, there are still question marks around his future if Red Bull fail to provide him with a title winning car. 

When Verstappen put pen to paper on that new contract, former F1 driver Martin Brundle suggested he was central to Red Bull's plans for continuity. 

Brundle told Sky Sports: "Red Bull had to be super nervous of keeping Max, that was critical.

"You had to be concerned that if Max joined Mercedes or Ferrari that Dietrich Mateschitz, the team's owner, might have looked at the whole thing and thought 'what's the point' if he's bringing a talent on like that only for him to jump ship.

"People love continuity inside Formula 1 teams; you build cars around drivers and their driving style, you build marketing programmes around them, you get long-term sponsors on board because you have got a long-term plan.

"Teams always look further down the road than they let on."