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Despite all of the controversy surrounding Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner his weekend in Bahrain, for the 23rd time in 28 races, Max Verstappen took home the win in Formula 1.
It was just more of what F1 fans have gotten used to seeing as Verstappen drove away from the field, winning by a whopping 22 seconds over second place driver Sergio Perez, who also happens to drive for Red Bull Racing.
Verstappen, who has won the past three Formula 1 world championships and is a massive favorite to win a fourth in 2024, is on his way to becoming one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history (if he isn’t there already).
It is for all of those reasons that Red Bull Racing would be foolish to let him leave the team, especially to one of Red Bull Racing’s top rivals Mercedes.
That, however, is the big rumor making the rounds on Monday as the Mercedes team looks to find a replacement for seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton is in the final year of his contract and will be moving to the Ferrari team in 2025.
That’s why the timing of the scandal surrounding Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is causing major concern for the team.
“There is tension here while he remains in position,” Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen’s father, told DailyMail.com after his son’s win on Saturday.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Max Verstappen is currently contracted to drive for Red Bull Racing until 2028, but the issues with Horner are beginning to cloud things.
Friday night after qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Jos Verstappen, a former teammate of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, reportedly stormed out of a meeting in Horner’s office before eventually returning.
DailyMail.com reported that Horner believes Jos has been trying to orchestrate his dismissal, even possibly being involved in the leak of Horner’s scandalous text messages to the press.
“That wouldn’t make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?” Jos Verstappen claimed.
After the race on Saturday, Horner told the media, “I am not going to comment on the motives whatever person may have for doing this.”