Jos Verstappen, father of Red Bull's three-time world champion Max Verstappen, has slammed Christian Horner for playing the “victim” when he is the “problem maker”. .
He fears Red Bull is “in danger of being torn apart” as long as Horner remains team principal.
“He's playing the victim when he's the one causing the problem.”
Verstappen started his title defense with a commanding victory at Saturday night's Bahrain Grand Prix, but it has been a tough week for Red Bull this season away from the track.
On Thursday night, 24 hours after Mr Horner was cleared of wrongdoing by parent company Red Bull, which had investigated Mr Horner's alleged conduct, an email was widely published claiming to contain evidence of the investigation. It was made public, and the team principal was back in the headlines.
Horner has consistently denied the allegations, but told media such as PlanetF1.com that he was “uncomfortable with some of the unwanted attention” but added: “I can't comment on what people are choosing. ” I tried to remain calm about everything. to write”.
But it did little to stop the reports amid speculation that there were tensions within the Red Bull camp.
Verstappen Sr. confirmed this.
“There is tension here while he remains in the position,” the former F1 driver told MailSport. “The team is on the verge of collapse.
“We can't keep going like this. It's going to explode. He's playing the victim when he's the one causing the problem.”
But he denied suggestions he was behind the campaign to unseat Mr Horner.
“It doesn't make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?” he said.
Horner is adamant he is not going anywhere and plans to return to the pitwall at next weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“Yeah, definitely, otherwise I wouldn't be here,” he said.
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As for Verstappen, the reigning world champion and Bahrain Grand Prix winner, he has publicly backed Horner's team philosophy, calling it “incredible”.
On Friday, after taking pole position in qualifying, he said:
“So, performance-wise, there's no doubt about it at all. So I'm working on that as well.
“I talk to Christian a lot. And of course, throughout the weekend here, he's committed to the team.
“Of course he's here to perform as well. He's probably a little distracted.
“But like I said before, we're only focused on the performance side of things. And that's how we all work together.”
Read next: Christian Horner talks about his doubts about his position as Red Bull team principal at the Saudi Grand Prix
