Max Verstappen insists his father, Jos Verstappen, is “not at odds” with Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
Red Bull has been rocked by a scandal surrounding Horner ahead of the 2024 F1 season after allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a female colleague emerged.
An investigation cleared Horner of any wrongdoing, but the drama didn't end there.
After the Bahrain Grand Prix, Joss effectively demanded that Horner step down as team principal, arguing that otherwise Red Bull risked being “split apart”.
During this time, the three-time world champion was rumoured to be moving to Mercedes in the aftermath of the incident.
With Red Bull remaining as F1's top team and the drama surrounding Horner diminishing, things seem to be back on track again.
In an interview with The Guardian, Verstappen was asked about the relationship between his father and the current team principal.
“Of course my dad is always with me,” Verstappen said.
“They're not at odds. Different people have different opinions, but that's another story.”
Verstappen insists he wants to stay at Red Bull as long as certain “pillars” are maintained.
Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull Racing and Dr Helmut Marko (Australia) Red Bull…
The Dutchman revealed that Helmut Marko, like his father, is one of those pillars.
As for Horner, Verstappen pointed out his importance during his first few years at Red Bull.
“There are a lot of pillars involved,” he added. “When I moved to Red Bull Racing, Christian was a pillar of that whole story. But what's really important is that everyone is focused on performance and getting back on track.”
“As I've said many times before, our focus right now is on the performance side and hopefully we can continue that.”
Verstappen admitted that controversy and questions about anything are not something he enjoys and that it detracts from his “job”.
“You don't want these kinds of talks and incidents to happen within a team,” he explained. “We just have to deal with it and move on. I'm contracted to work with a team, that's the performance and that's what I'm focused on. I'm not a politician, I'm not a person who likes to get political.
“I just try to focus on performing with the people around me and take my mind off the negativity, so to speak.”
