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Max Verstappen’s camp deny that they were responsible for Christian Horner’s sacking last July, but the driver’s father certainly put him under pressure.
In fact, it’s said that Jos Verstappen argued with Horner in the Red Bull garage at Silverstone, which proved to be his final appearance as team boss.
But 12 months on, with a new regime in place, the uncertainty over his son’s future continues. And perhaps Jos will now regret lobbying so hard for Horner to go.
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Verstappen Sr hailed the ‘friendly’ atmosphere at Red Bull a few months after Laurent Mekies took over. This was fuelled by a marked improvement on the track as Max surged back into title contention.
But this year has been different. Red Bull played down expectations because they were building a brand-new engine, but it’s the design of the RB22 itself that has truly held them back.
Having driven a considerably overweight car before an upgrade at the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen has only scored 76 points in nine rounds, which puts him seventh in the standings. He hasn’t finished outside the top six since he drove for Toro Rosso.
Even though he can activate a performance-based exit clause in his deal from the end of the month, Red Bull are trying to convince him to announce publicly that he will stay.
His refusal, to do so, though understandable, has angered certain senior figures. There are those who feel Verstappen is showing a lack of gratitude after winning four titles and earning hundreds of millions in his decade at Milton Keynes.
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It was even reported that 49% owner Mark Mateschitz wants Verstappen out because he has grown sick of the saga.
As explained by journalist Daniel Moxon on the Pit Lane Torque podcast, this reflects the change in leadership structure at Red Bull since Horner left.
“We know the relationship there has definitely deteriorated,” Moxon said. “We’ve got some angst between Max’s camp and, not necessarily Laurent Mekies, but the Austrian leaders of the main Red Bull company who have been more involved than they ever were when Christian Horner was in charge.
“Christian was left a little bit to run it to his own devices. A big part of the reason why Christian was pushed out was because the new Austrian leadership wanted more influence.”
Even under Horner, the internal tensions never reached this level. Press briefings that painted Verstappen in a negative light were virtually unheard of.
Jos, a ‘very pushy’ figure who is willing to ’cause trouble’ on his son’s behalf (according to Moxon), thought Red Bull would be a harmonious environment without Horner. Perhaps he wasn’t prepared for the hardline stance that those ‘Austrian leaders’ would adopt after taking the reins.
Horner arguably treated Verstappen as if he was just as big as the team at times, but Mateschitz and co. refuse to do so.
Laurent Mekies hasn’t yet shown that he’s capable of mediating the dispute, and for now, the team and their superstar driver are more divided than ever.
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