Verstappen loses key figure from Red Bull

Max Verstappen will have a new engineer in his backroom for the 2025 F1 season.

Michael Manning, who has served as Verstappen's trackside control engineer since the Dutchman joined Red Bull in May 2016, has decided he no longer wants to attend all 24 grands prix per season, according to De Telegraaf.

Manning has been with Red Bull since 2011, previously working as part of Sebastian Vettel's engineering team before then linking up with Verstappen for the last eight years. He was predominantly been responsible for the Dutchman's starts.

With Manning deciding to step back from race-to-race operations, Red Bull will now find a new role for him within the team, whilst also determining who will fill his role.

Over the years, Verstappen has worked with four engineers - the pillars of his support staff.

Alongside Manning, there is also race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, the voice you often hear in conversation with Verstappen, along with performance engineer Tom Hart, and David Mart, Formula 1 lead trackside power unit performance engineer.