Max Verstappen believes that his father Jos and Red Bull boss Christian Horner can sort out their differences that have prompted rumours about his Formula 1 future.
Horner had been the probe of an extensive investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour against a colleague but was exonerated of the accusations last week.
However, following the Bahrain Grand Prix, Jos Verstappen created headlines when he stated that Red Bull could be “torn apart” if Horner remained in charge of the team.
That’s generated speculation that Verstappen could leave Red Bull unless Horner departs, with Mercedes touted as an option as it looks to fill Lewis Hamilton’s seat for 2025.
“Well, I think of course I don’t know, because I’m the driver, I don’t know what’s happening higher up, right?” Verstappen said when asked about his father’s recent remarks.
“But from my side, you know, I’m contracted to just focus on the performance side of things, and of course that is also what I will focus on this weekend. Of course ideally what has been said in Bahrain from everyone, basically, is to just leave that behind, you know, and hopefully have a bit more of a quieter weekend here.
Asked whether he agreed with his father’s sentiment on the potential for Red Bull to implode, Verstappen replied: “I don’t know, I mean, I hope not. It shouldn’t be, it’s a strong company, a strong team, a lot of strong team members, so yeah, normally not.”
Verstappen admits that he can understand the reasoning from some quarters that his father’s viewpoint could be intepreted as his own due to their close relationship.
“Yeah, I mean, I can understand that, and of course my Dad and I, we are very close, we call every day, even if he’s not around or whatever,” he said.
“But at the other end also, you know, I’m not normally, I’m not the guy who likes to speak a lot about certain stuff.
“I just want to focus on the driving bit, and if there are any issues, we try to always, of course, resolve it within the team.”
However, Verstappen has denied that his father is a “liar” and has been frustrated that the talk has not been fixated on Red Bull’s dominant start to the 2024 F1 season.
Asked whether Jos held regrets over his sudden outburst, Max answered: “I haven’t asked him that, but my dad is, I think, from how I know him, of course, from when I was already in go-karts, he’s always very outspoken, he’s not a liar, that’s for sure.
“Of course, yeah, that is from my side what I can say about things, but I think in general for the team, it’s very important, I think, from every side of the team, that it’s just that we can finally talk about the performance of the great car that we actually have, which seems like no one is really, yeah, no one is really mentioning that too much in the last few days.”
Amid doubts over both Horner and Verstappen remaining in their current roles, the Dutchman is optimistic his father and team boss can overcome their recent quarrel.
“I think everyone, in general, even if you have arguments or not, there are always things that can be worked out, or in general, I think everyone is man enough and respectful enough to each other anyway, in that sense,” he asserted.
“And I think sometimes, I mean, I also don’t always agree with everything that happened. I’m not talking about lately or whatever, just in general in F1, with everything, and that’s why sometimes it’s good to have a discussion about things.
“And, yeah, you might agree to disagree sometimes, that’s also how you have what’s happening in a relationship, but that’s how it goes.”
Verstappen also believes that his father’s words have been twisted in some respects to create ulterior motives behind his decision to go public with criticism of Horner.
“The thing is, people will start making up stuff or speculate, or they think that they know why he said certain kind of things,” he commented.
“But at the end of the day, he’s the only one, and that’s what social media is for, right, it’s to speculate and make up stuff. There’s not much that I can do with that, to be honest.”
