JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Max Verstappen has stayed away from discussing his father’s pointed criticism of Red Bull boss Christian Horner, but said he does not see a day he races in Formula One without his dad by his side.
Verstappen, 26, also downplayed a potential move to Mercedes in 2025 in what has become a secondary storyline to the rift between his father and team boss, insisting he intends to see out his current contract with Red Bull through to 2028 so long as “the performance is there”.
It has been a remarkable week for reigning world champions Red Bull — last week, Horner was cleared by parent company Red Bull GmbH in a misconduct investigation, raised by a complaint from a female F1 team employee.
A few days later Verstappen won the opening race at a canter but his father, Jos — a former F1 driver himself, stole the headlines in the hours afterwards, saying the team would “explode” if Horner stayed in charge.
Horner had been seen having an argument with Verstappen Sr. on Friday night before the Bahrain Grand Prix.
When asked specifically if he agreed with his dad’s comments that the team could “explode” with Horner there, Verstappen told reporters: “I don’t know, I hope not!
“It shouldn’t. It’s a strong company, it’s a strong team, a lot of strong team members, so normally not.”
Verstappen was then asked if he could stay at the team with Horner there, he replied: “Well we are [together] at the moment”.
Over the past few weeks there has been growing talk within the F1 paddock about whether Verstappen needs to make a break from the influence of his father, who has been a near-permanent fixture of Red Bull’s hospitality unit and garage since his son joined the team in 2016. On that, he was unequivocal.
“I don’t see myself in F1 without them by my side for sure,” he said about his father and long-serving manager Raymond Vermeulen. “I have not asked him [about the comments], but my dad is very outspoken and he is not a liar, that is for sure.
“My dad and I are very close. We call every day.”
Verstappen Sr is not scheduled to be at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend. Recently, the 52-year-old insinuated in an interview with Dutch media his son could leave Red Bull should Horner stay.
Max Verstappen said: “Things must go really crazy, I guess, but that’s not the target for everyone.”
In his own press session, Lewis Hamilton was asked about…
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