Max Verstappen says father Jos Verstappen is ‘not a liar’ but Red Bull shouldn’t explode under Christian Horner | F1 News

Max Verstappen has insisted that his father is “not a liar” but says Jos Verstappen’s claim that Red Bull will “explode” if Christian Horner remains in charge “shouldn’t” happen.

Horner’s position as Red Bull team principal and chief executive has come under intense scrutiny following an investigation which dismissed allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him by a female colleague, who retains the right to appeal the dismissal.

Horner, who denied the allegations throughout the process, came under renewed pressure ahead of last weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix when material purporting to be the alleged evidence in the investigation into his conduct was leaked to numerous media organisations and F1 team principals from an anonymous email account.

On the day Verstappen began his quest for a fourth successive drivers’ title with a dominant victory in Bahrain, his father told reporters that the team was “in danger of being torn apart” and “will explode”.

Speaking to the media for the first time since his father’s comments were reported, Verstappen was asked if he agreed with the assessment.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I hope not. It shouldn’t be. It’s a strong company, strong team, a lot of strong team members, so normally not.

Pushed on whether his father, who was filmed having a post-race discussion with Horner in Bahrain, has any regrets over his comments, Verstappen offered a further defence of his character.

“I haven’t asked him that,” Verstappen said. “I think from how I know him from when he was in go-karting, he was always very outspoken and is not a liar. That’s for sure. That’s from my side what I can say about things.”

Horner is understood to have held face-to-face talks with Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen earlier this week and is set to remain in charge for this week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while Jos Verstappen will not be present due to commitments elsewhere.

“I was with him (Jos) until yesterday,” Verstappen said. “We speak all the time, we are a team. It’s me, my dad and Raymond all together, and that will always be like that also. But I guess he clearly felt like that.

“But I think from my side, it doesn’t matter being on one side or the other side, of course, as a son of my dad, it would be weird to be on a different side, but from my side I just want to focus on the performance side of things and I just want to have less talk of what we are doing as a team outside of the track than the actual performance, which at the moment, we have a great car and we are looking forward to a great year.”

More to follow…

Sky Sports F1’s live Saudi Arabian GP schedule

Thursday March 7

• 9.50am: F2 Practice
• 10.50am: F1 Academy Practice
• 1pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts at 1.30pm)
• 2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
• 4.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 5pm)
• 6.15pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
• 7.15pm: The F1 Show

Friday March 8

• 11.55am: F1 Academy Race 1
• 1.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30pm)
• 3.05pm: F2 Sprint Race
• 4.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
• 5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING

Saturday March 9

• 12pm: F1 Academy Race 2
• 1.20pm: F2 Feature Race
• 3.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday
• 5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
• 7pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
• 9.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP highlights

Watch the second round of the new F1 season – the Saudi Arabian GP – live on Sky Sports F1 this coming week, with practice on Thursday, qualifying on Friday and the race at 5pm on Saturday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership for just £21 a month for 12 months