Now at Ferrari, Hamilton recalled when he first met Horner at Red Bull and acknowledged the “remarkable” job he did at the team. “It doesn’t change anything in my life,”

However, the Dutchman failed to take the momentum into qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix race as he only managed to put his Red Bull fourth, behind Charles Leclerc, Piastri and Norris. It has to be said that Verstappen 's car underwent a set-up change during the break between the sprint and the Grand Prix qualifying.

The drivers, team workers and new boss all try to look forward as the Belgian GP (and another era) gets underway

New Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies said his main priority is improving the team's car in order to quieten the noise about Max Verstappen's future.