The Christian Horner case continues to concern Formula 1. Now the father of world champion Max Verstappen spoke out – and attacked the Red Bull boss.
According to a report in the English newspaper “Daily Mail”, Max Verstappen’s father Jos has further fueled the spicy affair surrounding Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner. The paper quotes the 51-year-old former Formula 1 driver as saying: “He plays the victim while he is the one causing the problems.”
According to the Daily Mail, Verstappen Senior also said: “The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on like this. It will explode.” Such statements could be the next escalation level in a power struggle that has been raging in the world champion team for a long time.
The two fronts: Here is the 50-year-old Briton Horner, who has led the team based in Milton Keynes, England, since Red Bull entered Formula 1 and led to seven drivers’ and six constructors’ titles. His most important advocate: the Thai majority owner of Red Bull, Chalerm Yoovidhya, who was also at the race in Bahrain on Saturday.
On the other hand, the 80-year-old Austrian Helmut Marko, who has also been there since joining and was a close confidant of the Austrian Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in October 2022. Max Verstappen and his father Jos are quite close to Marko.
Even before his commanding start-to-finish victory on Saturday at the season opener in Bahrain, Max Verstappen had emphasized that the Horner matter was not a burden on him. The team boss was accused of inappropriate behavior by an employee. After an external investigation, the parent company Red Bull dismissed the complaint on Wednesday last week.
Around 24 hours later, anonymous emails were sent with a link to files relating to the Horner matter. These also went to the other nine team bosses, the heads of Formula 1 and the world association as well as Jos Verstappen. Horner has always denied the allegations.