(Paris) Jos Verstappen, the father of three-time reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, said the Red Bull team would “explode” if team boss Christian Horner, recently cleared of accusations of ” inappropriate behavior” towards an employee, retained her position.
“There is tension [dans l’équipe] as long as it remains in place,” the former Dutch F1 driver declared in Sakhir on Saturday in the sports supplement of the British daily Daily Maila few hours after his son’s triumph at the Bahrain Grand Prix, kicking off the season.
“The team risks tearing itself apart. She can’t continue like this. It will explode,” said Jos Verstappen.
“He plays the victim, when it is he who is the origin of the problems,” he added about the historic boss of the Red Bull team.
PHOTO DARKO BANDIC, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Max Verstappen (center) with his father Jos (right) and his manager Raymond Vermeulen
On Wednesday, the Austrian firm announced that its internal investigation had led it to clear the Briton Christian Horner of the charges against him.
While several teams denounced a lack of transparency during the internal investigation, the person concerned assured Thursday that the unity in his team “has never been so strong”.
But the sending, shortly after, of an anonymous email, notably containing WhatsApp messages allegedly written by Horner, to journalists following F1, to motorsport officials and even to competing teams, relaunched the affair.
The affair was revealed at the beginning of February when a first article appeared in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
Questioned by the Daily Mail on the origin of the information leaked to the media, Jos Verstappen denied any involvement in this matter.
” That does not make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here? “, he assured.
Christian Horner, married to ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, present at his side on Saturday during the Bahrain Grand Prix, has always denied the facts with which he was accused and said he was convinced after the GP that his position was not not threatened by the fallout from the investigation.
“A complete and lengthy internal procedure was carried out [par un avocat externe à Red Bull, NDLR], and the grievance raised was rejected. End of story,” he also told the press in Bahrain.