Max Verstappen’s father Jos has launched a remarkable attack on Red Bull boss Christian Horner, saying the team is “in danger of being torn apart” if he stays as team principal.
The younger Verstappen’s victory in Bahrain came after weeks of focus around Horner and a misconduct investigation launched after a woman employed by the F1 team made a complaint of inappropriate behaviour.
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Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of the race team, dismissed that complaint on Wednesday.
An anonymous email with messages purportedly linked to the case were leaked to the media the following day, but Horner has remained defiantly in his job.
Jos Verstappen, a former teammate of Michael Schumacher in the 1990s, has called for Horner to leave the team.
“There is tension here while he remains in position,” Jos Verstappen told the Daily Mail.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
It is unknown whether Verstappen’s opinion is shared by his son, who looks like a comfortable favourite for a fourth world title in a row with the team this year.
The Horner saga intensified as soon as Formula One arrived at the Bahrain paddock for preseason testing a week before the same venue hosted the first race of the year.
Rumours quickly spread that Jos Verstappen has been involved in the story becoming so public.
On that, Verstappen told the Mail: “That wouldn’t make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?”
Horner himself refused to be drawn on a question about someone clearly wanting him out of the team.
“I’m not going to comment on what motives, whatever person may have for doing this,” he said, adding that he had full support from within the racing team and the wider Red Bull company.
Jos Verstappen is not an employee of Red Bull Racing but is almost a permanent fixture of the team’s F1 hospitality centre at every race.