Just when it looked as though the Christian Horner badly managed kiss and tell had been put to bed, Jos Verstappen exploded it once again with his comments following the chequered flag in Bahrain. The former journeyman F1 driver insisted Christian Horner had to go because the current drama surrounding him would see the team “torn apart” despite the Red Bull principal being cleared of all allegations of “inappropriate behaviour.”

Inevitably this outburst from the father of the current world champion who himself has a chequered history of violent relationships with women would spark a whole host of questions for Max and others who were in attendance for the media day in Jeddah.

 

 

 

Max diplomacy worthy of UN nomination

Not known for his diplomatic skills, Max delivered a performance worthy of him being nominated as the Dutch governments ambassador to either Isreal or even Iran. When presented with the either or argument in terms of supporting his team boss or father, Max delivered immaculately articulated responses which left open the door to a reconciliation between the two.

The F1 world champion walked the tightrope which eliminated the choice of supporting his father’s comments and hanging out his team boss to dry with impeccable ease and at the same time dismissed the insane suggestions this week from the F1 media which penciled him in as the replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

If the whole F1 thing goes tits up, Max Verstappen is truly worthy of a nomination for the role of Secretary General of the united Nations.

Verstappen was not listed as one of the sic drivers for the FIA press conference, but even those absolved from such mundane duties are mandated to appear before the press on the day in an F1 weekend before the cars hit the track. In just nine minutes outside the Red Bull hospitality building Max made it clear he stood behind his father and team boss and in no way was he considering a move to the team who are at best third fastest in the field this season.

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Verstappen backs his father’s outburst

When asked about the advice of his father and current manager Raymond Vermeulen Verstappen made it clear they would “always be a team” for now striking out the possibility he may do a Lewis Hamilton and appoint professional management instead of his family.

When asked whether he and Christian Horner could co-exist within the same team, Max was obdurate stating: “Well we are at the moment. I saw a lot of stories about that, which was a bit weird to read. But from my side what I want, and it doesn’t matter who is involved in the team or not, is to have a quiet environment where everyone is happy to work.”

Prima facia this could be read as supportive of his father’s call for Horner to quit or even merely an indifference ton whether Honer survives the current storm or not. Yet in reality Max is just saying his priory is about racing whether the team structure changes or not and whether Christian and his father bury the hatchet or not.

Max has always been all about the racing and doesn’t care for the politics of F1, though he has often had his say over matters he believes are detrimental to the sport. He ridiculed the new Sprint race weekend format last year but after a quiet word from the sport’s promoters, modified his attitude having won the unofficial Sprint championship in 2023 by a handsome margin.

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Mercedes rumours ‘a joke’

The F1 media have been obsessed with the dinner Jos Verstappen had with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in Bahrain and have made Max the favourite to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Yet the stupidity of this notion got lost in the bedlam over Red Bull’s internal war and Max out the idea to bed once and for all during his nine minutes of interrogation.

“The intention of course is absolutely to stay with this team because I really enjoy it,” said Max. Hardly an image of a team being torn apart amidst a civil war.

“I’m also happy within this team because I really enjoy it, and I’m also happy within the team (double emphasis). Yeah and as long as we perform there’s no reason to leave,” Verstappen concluded.

Of course Christian Horner listed as one of the team principals to face the official FIA press conference tomorrow will face the same interrogation as did Max today. Yet his 19 years at the helm of the second most successful F1 team since 2005 will surely see the Red Bull boss answer his accusers with ease.

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Jos Verstappen history of violence

Verstappen concluded his press occasion with a call for peace worthy of the United States Secretary of State on a trip to the Middle East. “Everyone in general, even if you have arguments or not, there are things that can be worked out,” he said.

“Everyone is man enough and respectful enough anyway. I have not always agreed with everything that has happened – and I’m not talking about lately – just in general in F1. And that is where sometimes it is good to have discussions. You might agree to disagree. That is what happens in a relationship.”

Jos Verstappen with his history of a suspended custodial sentence for fracturing another’s skull at a karting event in 1998, breach of a restraining order and alleged violent behaviour towards Max’s mother along with the arrest and 2 week detention for attempted murder of a former girlfriend is hardly the weather vein the current F1 world champion should be guided by on his future F1 career. 

Yet for now, Max refuses to criticise his father’s intervention on the Horner saga last week, something Lewis Hamilton questioned when asked about the situation today.

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Hamilton says Jos “not part of the team”

“At the end of the day, he’s not a part of the team,” said Hamilton of Jos. “He’s a parent. So it’s just an opinion, but it’s definitely not helpful.”

The Mercedes star driver elaborated on the nature of a parent’s involvement in their child’s career claiming it can be a difficult line to walk.

“I think it is a very thin line to walk,” Hamilton continued. “I think it’s also dependent on your relationship with your parent.

“You meet some people who’ve got great relationships with their parents, and they’ve been amazing parents, and then you’ve got people that have had bad relationships and it’s not necessarily parents that have been good to them.

“And so I don’t know about [Verstappen’s] relationships, obviously, you hear things here and there, but I think Max is a grown man and he’s a champion and I’m sure can make his own decisions.”

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Lewis suggests Max split with his father

Lewis famously split with his father as his manager and sought the help of professional management from Simon Fuller’s company when he moved from McLaren.

“I’ve experienced it, just when you sometimes don’t have the right guidance around you, it leads to you either making the wrong decisions or not being able to perhaps be the best at what you do,” concluded the seven times F1 world champion.

This is clearly a thinly veiled suggestion from Hamilton that Max should ditch his father and his chequered life and ‘plough his own furrow’ with people who can better advise him.

Jos will be absent from the Red Bull garage this weekend which is unusual since his son became a genuine challenger in winning the F1 drivers’ championship. But the attention tomorrow will be less on the cars on track in practice and more on how Horner deals with the latest media scrutiny over his F1 future.

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