Having previously declared the Christian Horner saga was “damaging” F1, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem reportedly asked Max Verstappen to publicly back his team boss.
Red Bull had a tumultuous weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix as Max Verstappen’s season-opening victory was overshadowed by his team boss’ off-track troubles.
A day after seeing allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him dismissed by Red Bull’s parent company, Horner was back in the headlines when an email was released claiming to contain information about the investigation.
Horner has refused to comment on the saga, telling the media including PlanetF1.com he “can’t comment on what people are choosing to write”.
But with Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen speaking to two newspapers to call for Horner’s resignation, telling the Daily Mail there’ll be tension within the Red Bull camp if “he remains in position” and De Telegraaf that it “cannot continue this way”, there is no respite in sight for Horner.
The latest episode is now said to include triple World Champion Verstappen with De Telegraaf reporting that Max Verstappen was approached by Ben Sulayem with the FIA president asking him to back Horner publicly.
Ben Sulayem is said to have spoken with the driver after Verstappen’s PR-esque “incredible team boss” comment during the Bahrain weekend.
Asked if he still has faith in Horner, the Dutchman replied: “Listen, when I look at how Christian operates within the team, he has been an incredible team boss, so absolutely, from the performance side of things, you can’t even question that. So that’s what I’m also dealing with.
“I speak to Christian a lot and also of course, throughout the weekend here he’s fully committed to the team.
“He’s also here for the performance, of course, probably a little bit distracted, but like I said before, we just focus on the performance side of things and that’s how we all work together.”
Red Bull have denied there’s any unrest within the team, telling PA: “There are no issues here. The team are united and we are focused on racing.”
Meanwhile, Jos Verstappen, who had a public falling out with Horner in Bahrain, has once again denied being behind the leaked email.
“Why would I do that? Max has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, is performing great and feels at home here. I have no interest in that at all,” he told the Dutch publication
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