Jos Verstappen, the father of Red Bull’s star driver Max Verstappen, has spoken out about the recent departures of key personnel from the team, expressing his concerns by saying: “This is what I warned about.”
The ongoing feud between Verstappen and Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner has been a prominent feature throughout the 2024 season. The rift within the team, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko siding with Verstappen, first surfaced at the season’s opening race in Bahrain in March amidst investigations into Horner’s alleged misconduct towards a female colleague. Despite being cleared twice of any wrongdoing, tensions remained high.
Verstappen had previously warned that Red Bull, winners of 21 out of 22 races last year in a dominant season, would face turmoil if Horner was to stay in charge. The recent exits of design expert Adrian Newey, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, and strategy chief Will Courtenay seem to support Verstappen’s apprehensions about the team’s future under Horner’s leadership.
In an interview with Motorsport.com, Verstappen expressed his disappointment at the series of departures, stating, “The team then says ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, we have someone else.’ But it’s too many people now [leaving].” He highlighted the impact on Max, who is constantly questioned about the situation, adding, “I think it’s just not good, what’s happening at the moment.”
Responding to the personnel changes, Red Bull has initiated a restructuring of their technical department, promoting Max’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, as part of the reshuffle. Meanwhile, McLaren has surged ahead in the constructors’ standings, with Lando Norris closing in on Max, who has not secured a victory in the past eight races and trails by 52 points with six races remaining in the season.
The ongoing developments within Red Bull continue to raise questions about the team’s stability and future prospects under Horner’s leadership. Verstappen’s warnings about the consequences of retaining Horner at the helm seem to be playing out as the team navigates through a tumultuous period amidst competitive pressures in the F1 world.