Christian Horner held an in-person meeting with Max Verstappen’s manager in Dubai on Monday in an attempt to ease rising tensions at Red Bull.
According to sources, Christian Horner staged a face-to-face meeting with Max Verstappen’s manager on Monday amid rising tensions behind the scenes at Red Bull.
Recently, Horner was cleared of allegations of inappropriate behaviour lodged by a female employee following a Red Bull investigation into the claims with the oversight of an independent barrister.
However, the controversy has not abated over the last few days after Verstappen’s father Jos publicly stated that Red Bull will “be torn apart” if Horner continues to hold his role.
“There is tension here while he (Horner) remains in position,” Verstappen Snr told Daily Mail.
“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.”
Horner held a face-to-face meeting with Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen on Monday in Dubai in an attempt to defuse growing tensions within the squad, according to PA. It is reported that neither Verstappen nor his father was present at the meeting and it was Vermeulen representing the Red Bull driver.
News of the meeting broke after Horner maintained that he was ‘absolutely confident’ he would remain in command at Red Bull despite the uncertainty surrounding him.
The ongoing drama surrounding Horner overshadowed Verstappen’s triumph at the season’s opening round in Bahrain last weekend.
“I have the support of an incredible family, an incredible wife, an incredible team and everybody within that team,” the 50-year old said. “And my focus is going racing, winning racing and doing the best I can.
“It was a day about starting the season in the best possible way. My focus is on this team, my family, my wife and racing.”
The team’s current predicament has fueled rumours that Verstappen could leave Red Bull soon if Horner is not relieved of his role as the Dutchman has been linked to an unprecedented switch to Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari next year.
Talk of Verstappen perhaps leaving Red Bull at the end of the season erupted after Toto Wolff was spotted conversing with his father in the Bahrain paddock. The Mercedes boss, however, has already downplayed the possibility of Verstappen taking Hamilton’s place on the grid, stating that he is unlikely to be eager to leave Red Bull while they have the best car on the grid.
“I think the driver will always choose the quickest car,” said Wolff. “That is fundamentally what it’s all about.
“At the moment, Red Bull is the quickest car so that will, in my opinion, always be the priority. I think today, Max is not in a different league, but he’s in a different galaxy.”
