Star Verstappen defends father amid tumoil at Red Bull team
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA >> Threetime defending Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen defended his father amid turmoil at Red Bull and addressed speculation Wednesday that he could switch to Mercedes next season when Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari.
Jos Verstappen said over the weekend that his son’s team will “explode “if Christian Horner remains in charge after the Red Bull principal’s alleged behavior toward a team employee. The younger Verstappen said his father has always been outspoken.
“He is not a liar, that’s for sure,” Max Verstappen said in comments reported by the Ukbased Press Association.
Last week, the team’s parent company dismissed a complaint of alleged misconduct by Horner toward an unidentified team employee.
A day later, a file alleged to contain evidence against Horner was emailed to nearly 200 people in the F1 paddock.
Horner has denied any wrongdoing and remained in place for season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, which featured a dominating win by Verstappen. Jos Verstappen’s comments came after the race.
Verstappen, in pursuit of his fourth straight F1 championship, said he wants “a quiet environment where everyone is happy to work.”
The Dutch driver is under contract with Red Bull until 2028 but said Hamilton’s surprise switch from Mercedes to Ferrari — in 2025 — is proof that anything can happen.
“Nobody would have seen that Lewis would move to Ferrari,” Verstappen said. “You never know in general life what happens, or comes to you, or happens around you or what might influence you, so you can never say 100% that that is how it is going to be, and that is the way I approach my life.
“But I am very relaxed and very happy at the team and the performance is there, so there is no reason to leave.”
F1’S GEORGE RUSSELL CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY>> Mercedes driver George Russell has called for transparency following a report alleging that the president of Formula 1’s governing body intervened to overturn a penalty last season.
Russell finished fourth behind Fernando Alonso in last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but was briefly upgraded to third when Alonso was given a 10-second penalty because Aston Martin’s pit crew touched the car with a jack while serving an earlier penalty. That ruling was later overturned.
The BBC reported this week that FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to have the Alonso penalty overturned. The FIA said Tuesday that its compliance officer has received two complaints “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing body” in seeming reference to whistleblower claims against Ben Sulayem.