Just when Christian Horner thought it was safe to go out in the Formula One paddock…. With the sound turned down and just the TV pictures playing, watching Max Verstappen and Christian Horner after the Dutch Grand Prix, anyone would think it was Red Bull business as usual.

Yet nothing could be further from there truth. Max has now not won a race in the last five weekends and the last time that happened was before he became F1 world champion. The first four of those race weekends were unfortunate at times, but Lando Norris win in the Netherlands is a game changer.

Norris qualified on pole position by over a third of a second ad despite a poor start which saw him lose the lead, on lap eighteen the McLaren eased ahead of Verstappen along the main straight. Lando was to come home a whopping 22.9 seconds ahead of Verstappen and this very margin sent shockwaves through the paddock.

 

 

 

Piastri “screwed” by McLaren

Yet it was not all plain sailing for the papaya liveried team. Oscar Piastri qualified third but lost a place at the opening corner to George Russell. As those around him stopped for fresh rubber, McLaren ordered the Aussie to extend his stint.

On older rubber Piastri was not as quick as the likes of Russell and Leclerc with both of them cycling ahead of the McLaren driver by the time he finally pitted for new tyres.

“They screwed him up. David, stop, stop,” says former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan. “McLaren screwed him up again. They left him out far too long and you know that and they’ve done that before and then they’re stacking at Silverstone. 

“Look, as far as I’m concerned it’s no harm because I think Piastri has won his race.He now has the knowledge. He knows how to win and what it’s like to win. But you know, some of the things are playing absolutely away from him and that is that I think they made a very serious mistake about the way they pitted him. They let it go far, far too late.”

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Marko stirs the pot

Max did what he does best in the circumstances bringing home his RB20 in second place but all is not well in the world champions camp. After the race Dr. Helmut Marko raised the spectre of tensions increasing between Max’s father and team boss Christian Horner once again.

Speaking about Toto Wolff’s very public overtures towards Max Verstappen, Marko said to the inside Line podcast: “He wouldn’t be a good team principal if he wouldn’t try to get Max. I think every top team would like to have Max.

“The other story [of a meeting between Wolff and Verstappen’s camp], all the people live in Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo, when it’s not the grand prix, it’s quite a quiet place. There are not so many coffee shops.

“So it’s just natural that you run into each other, and of course, Toto makes a story out of it. On the other hand, Jos is a bigger fan of Toto than he is of Christian.”

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Jos reignites feud with Horner

Jos Verstappen attacked Christian Horner at the first F1 event of the year, telling the Daily Mail, “There is tension here while he remains in position. The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode.”

This followed the sending of an anonymous email to around 150 paddock senior individuals containing alleged evidence in the investigation into claims Christian Horner had displayed “inappropriate behaviour” with a Red Bull female employee.

It was suspected that both Jos and Dr. Marko had a hand in the leaked information and an independent investigation dismissed all the accusations made against the Red Bull team boss. Jos once again chose to stick the boot into Horner following Max’s defeat by Lando Norris.

“Over 20 seconds is a huge disappointment. Max never had a chance of winning,” Verstappen Snr told German publication Bild. “But that’s not surprising when you regress the car.”

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Max doubting Red Bull

Verstappen is referring to reports which emerged during the Dutch Grand Prix suggesting that his son Max had reverted to an early version of this year’s car in an attempt to find where the team has gone wrong in terms of development.

“That says it all”, continued Jos. “The team took the wrong turn several times. Internally, we should hold up a mirror to ourselves and not always gloss over everything. It’s time – if it’s not already too late – to question ourselves. The good people are leaving the team. I’m very unhappy with what’s happening.”

F1 ex-driver and pundit Johnny Herbert sees Jos Verstappen as the aggressor in the matter. ”The warmonger has been Jos. He has been very much at the forefront of criticism of the Red Bull set-up and Christian especially,” Herbert told Poker Apps Ltd.

”Can they promise him enough for the next few years? I’m not so sure about that. I think there is a big question mark over what they can show Max in terms of the direction that will enable him to keep trying to win those world championships,” Herbert continued.

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Red Bull civil war?

The former Sky F1 presenter believes Jos may be making Max doubt Red Bull at present “because it has gone from downhill very quickly. Very, very quickly.”

‘In terms of a civil war? Not yet maybe. There is no battle yet. But it is building up. There is definitely a sense of building up inside. There is always a chance of a rupture. There will always be a breaking point because things are not going the way they want.’’

Given the track specific nature which has seen different teams each weekend top of the pile in recent times, its difficult to known how Red Bull will fare in Monza. Yet another whooping by McLaren and Jos will be speaking his mind once again.

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Why Williams were “panicked” into Sargeant dismissal

The sacking of American driver Logan Sargeant by Williams is no surprise to anyone in and around the paddock. Having replaced Nicholas Latifi Williams had hoped the Florida born driver would bring better results than his Canadian predecessor.

However, during his three years with the team, Latifi claimed a total of nine points while Logan Sargeant well into his second year has just one which he inherited when Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the 2023 US Grand Prix.

To be fair to Logan, Williams have during his two seasons in F1 delivered cars which have performed worse than in Latifi’s time, yet it was the carnage from Sargeant’s crashes which finally tipped the scales not in his favour… READ MORE