Max Verstappen has rubbished reports that he is at odds with Christian Horner amid the ongoing investigation into the Red Bull Team Principal’s alleged misconduct.
Horner is the subject of an investigation from the parent Red Bull company after accusations of “inappropriate, controlling behaviour” from a female employee.
The Red Bull boss attended an internal hearing with an external barrister last Friday in central London, with Horner continuing to deny the allegations levelled against him.
Last October it was reported that Helmut Marko could be ousted from his advisory role at Red Bull and that Horner had been an individual who had supported his removal.
Horner rejected such claims, but recent developments have again caused rumours that an internal power struggle has been brewing within the Milton-Keynes squad.
Expanding on that speculation, Motorsport-Total reported that the investigation first emerging in Dutch media came as a result of a rift between the Verstappen camp, including Max’s father Jos, and Horner.
However, speaking to selected media including Motorsport Week at the launch of Red Bull’s RB20, Verstappen denied that his relationship with Horner had deteriorated.
“It’s the same as always the same as always,” he said. “I can tell you that. I mean, I don’t know who likes to write these kinds of things. But me and Christian is like always.”
Meanwhile, Horner has continued to conduct his usual responsibilities in charge of Red Bull’s F1 team and he was present at the launch of its 2024 challenger on Thursday.
Verstappen clarified that the mood within the Red Bull camp remained “good” as the reigning champions bid to build on a season last term that saw it win all but one race.
“I mean, everyone is actually very motivated again, of course we are very proud of what we have achieved last year, in the years before, but we are also very proud of this car so far, in terms of the development,” Verstappen added. “And we’re just looking forward to start the season and hopefully of course try to fight for wins again.”
Horner admitted that the investigation had become a point of “distraction” within the Red Bull ranks, but Verstappen says that he is fixated on his own personal performance.
“From my side I am very focused on my own performance to get ready, to be fit, to be ready to drive the car, to be discussing things with the engineers, what you want to do,” he said. “Plus my life is not only F1, when I’m at home I prefer not to think about F1 too much outside of my scheduled training.
“There are a lot of things going on in the background for me also, what I want to do in the future, also from the virtual side of things, that I’m working on, so I’m one I’m busy enough at home.”
Perez concurred with his team-mate, adding: “I think we just want to go racing, we are a race team, we want the whole team to stay together, you know, because we’ve been so successful, and he [Horner] will be able to just keep the whole team together and focus on racing.”
The Mexican also hailed Horner, who has been with Red Bull since its inception, as a “key player” and insisted it’s vital that the team remains united through this period.
“Obviously there are some things out there, but the most important is we stick together as a team, we work well, and the main goal remembering [that] we are here for racing and we are a race team and we love it, and we just go racing together, and we know that Christian is a key player in our organisation,” Perez outlined.
With his future with Red Bull undecided beyond the end of this year, Perez is in crucial need of a strong start to the season to be in shape to earn a contract extension.
Asked whether he was worried about the news behind the scenes becoming a distraction to that, Perez reiterated: “Like I say it’s important all of us focus on what we’re here to do, and what we’re here to do is to win championships and bring the team as forward as possible and that has to be the target for all [of] us in this investigation.”
