Accused of “inappropriate behavior” then cleared by an internal Red Bull investigation, Christian Horner is in the sights of Jos Verstappen, father of Max Verstappen, the team’s three-time world champion driver.
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The Christian Horner affair may not be over after all. The director of the Red Bull team, implicated following an internal investigation for “inappropriate behavior” towards an employee, is now the subject of intense pressure from the father of his star driver, Max Verstappen. In comments addressed to the British tabloid, the Daily Mail, Saturday March 2, Jos Verstappen believes that Red Bull “can’t continue on this path“, while Horner was kept in his post because he was cleared by this investigation.
A few hours after the first Grand Prix of the season, won by Max Verstappen, his father Jos, also a former F1 driver and who shapes the career of the current triple world champion, assured that there would be “tension in the team as long as Christian Horner remains in his position.“
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t continue like this, it will explode. He’s playing the victim, when he’s the one causing the problems.”
Jos Verstappen, father of driver Max Verstappento the Daily Mail, March 2
Horner, who has always denied the facts, proclaimed on Thursday February 29 that cohesion within Red Bull had “never been so strong” after the publication of the results of the investigation. A few hours later, compromising documents and screenshots were sent by an anonymous source to a large number of journalists following Formula 1, to those responsible for the discipline, and to other teams, without this evidence having been confirmed. could be authenticated for the moment. Jos Verstappen also guaranteed the Daily Mail that he was not linked to these revelations. “That does not make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?” he asked.
The paddock calls for transparency
Christian Horner was summoned by the discipline’s authorities, the only ones with Red Bull to be able to dismiss the Briton from his post, during testing for the Bahrain Grand Prix following this leak.
Several team directors opposing Red Bull and Christian Horner had expressed their concerns about the management of this affair. “Given the aspirations of an international sport on such critical subjects, more transparency is needed“Mercedes director Toto Wolff asked the media. Zak Brown, his alter ego at McLaren, told the BBC that it would remain as it was.”lots of unanswered questions about the whole process” of the investigation.
On Saturday, the Red Bull team and Max Verstappen had so far experienced an uneventful day, with the victory of the Dutch driver for the resumption of the F1 season, ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez.