8 weeks of investigation by a group of external lawyers and then nothing. But the Horner issue at Red Bull Racing is far from over. What set fire to the hours following the splendid double obtained at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, was none other than Jos Verstappen.
The father of the driver on whom the Milton Keynes team built its recent fortunes launched a series of sentences to the microphones of the Daily Mail, one of the most important British tabloids in England, claiming in a thinly veiled way that not only the team did not he is calm despite the investigation ending positively for the team principal, but also how the future of the team itself is in danger if Horner remains in his place regularly.
“There is tension in the team as long as Horner remains in his position as team principal,” attacked the father of the three-time world champion and first leader of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
“The team risks being destroyed. It can't continue like this. It will explode. Horner is playing the victim, while he is the one causing the problems.”
Few words, but destined to raise a fuss of uncontrollable dimensions. Jos is the father of one of the cornerstones on which Red Bull's current winning cycle is based, namely Max Verstappen. Although in the past Jos has also been removed from the box to leave Max calmer in his growth process, he remains a voice of some importance precisely because of the blood bond he has with the reigning world champion.
That's not all, because the words of the former Formula 1 driver and supporter of the path that brought Max first to Formula 1 and then to the top of the world also clearly indicate the will of some factions within Red Bull who are certainly not happy to see Horner still team principal and principal executive of several key Milton Keynes departments such as Red Bull Powertrains, Red Bull Technologies and the Formula 1 team.
In all of this, Max Verstappen has so far expressed words of comfort towards his team principal, therefore in antithesis to those of his father: “Listen, if I look at how Christian operates within the team, he has been an incredible team principal “.
“So absolutely, from a performance point of view, you can't doubt it. I talk to him often. And then, of course, throughout the weekend he gave his all for the team. Maybe he's a little distracted, but as I said before we only focus on performance and that's how we all work together.”
It would have been difficult to expect different words from Max, especially at the start of a season that will have to lead him to defend the title by trying to win the fourth in a row, reaching Sebastian Vettel in this special ranking who succeeded in the feat from 2010 to 2013.
The doubt is that Jos' words are only a supplement to those released by Max: that is, a strong and clear message from the Verstappen family which goes more or less like this: step aside.
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