The subject came to the fore over the Bahrain test, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown leading the questioning of how closely the two teams work together and the personnel movement between them.

Asked if he thought such comments were an attempt to destabilise Red Bull – already in the spotlight in the wake of the ongoing Christian Horner investigation – Verstappen suggested that it was a familiar scenario in the paddock.

“That is a constant tactic in F1, one that is always used,” he said. “That does not only apply to this story, but that is always the case and is typical for F1. That is one hundred percent typical F1.”

Verstappen added it was “normal” for key people to move between teams. “Yes, you always try to get your own advantage out of something, and you try to pull people away from other teams,” he said.

“That is very normal in F1. You can always find something and always make something out of it.”

Regarding speculation that Ferrari is trying to hire key Red Bull players, Verstappen said: “It happens all the time, especially if you are doing well, of course.

“We have our own engine programme by now for 2026, and we also get people from other teams for that. That is and always remains a thing in F1.

“It's also nothing that I think about like: 'Oh shit, what is happening here?'. No, it's actually quite normal in the world of F1.

Asked if the yet unresolved Horner investigation was a distraction to the team, Verstappen insisted that everyone in the camp was focussed on the track.

“I mean, in terms of talking about that, it's not that suddenly sitting here I can speak about things,” he said. “So it's better that I just focus on my own performance, because that's already a day job.

“But I guess of course for everyone it's nice when things are resolved, but that's the only thing that I can say about that.

“Everyone who is here, they're all focussing on the performance of the car, as they should. Everyone knows their role, and everyone is very focussed on trying to make the whole package faster.”