Jos Verstappen attacked Christian Horner on the sidelines of the weekend in Austria. The father of the three-time world champion criticizes the Red Bull boss for not giving him the opportunity to drive during the Legends parade.
The feud between Jos Verstappen and Christian Horner is still going strong. In recent months, the relationship between the two men has become increasingly frosty, especially since Max’s father explicitly asked the Red Bull boss to step down following accusations of “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female employee of the Austrian team.
This weekend, the temperature has risen another notch, and not just on the track. While the paddock is on Red Bull land until Sunday, Jos Verstappen openly attacked Christian Horner. The reason: the Austrian branch of the energy drink company had asked the former Formula 1 driver to take part in the Legends parade. But plans have changed.
Horner denies problems with other drivers’ fathers ‘in the past’
“In recent days I have heard from several sides that Christian Horner had done everything not to let me drive. And to ensure that nothing would be filmed. So I said to myself: say it to my face. This is not how it should happen for me, I find it very disappointing,” revealed Jos Verstappen, quoted by Dutch media De Telegraaf.
Information denied by the main interested party, indicating that he did not have “a right of veto”. “I have never had any problems with other drivers’ fathers in the past. If Jos has any problems, I have nothing to say about it now. The relationship with Max has always been very good and very strong. He’s our driver and he’s very important to our team, so it’s important to have a good relationship with him.”
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen will start from pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday after setting the fastest qualifying time on Friday at the Red Bull Ring. The three-time reigning world champion was able to do well during a very tactical Q3 where the drivers left at the last moment to only complete one fast lap.
“I’m very happy to take first place in the sprint qualifying in front of my fans for our home race. Everything went very well today. The car was fun to drive and we found the right set-up straight away. It’s a very good start to the weekend,” explained the 26-year-old. Verstappen finished 93 and 301 thousandths of a second ahead of the two McLarens of Briton Lando Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri.
