Former driver and Sky Sports F1 reporter Martin Brundle has made a big claim that Max Verstappen and his father, Jos Verstappen, could have fueled Christian Horner‘s abrupt exit from Red Bull Racing.
Horner was asked to step down from the position of CEO and team principal with immediate effect last week. The reason for his exit hasn’t been revealed yet, but Brundle claimed he had an idea of who contributed to his ousting.
Horner’s clash with Jos Verstappen reportedly occurred last year. The team boss was accused by a female employee of inappropriate behavior, prompting Jos to argue with Horner over the incident. He even went to the extent of saying back then that Red Bull was at the “risk of being torn apart” if Horner continued to be in his position.
The controversy followed a reported power struggle at Red Bull between Horner and senior advisor Helmut Marko. The team’s internal situation worsened as key personnel such as Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley announced their exits. Speaking on Sky Sports’ The F1 Show podcast, Brundle pointed out that elements were working against Horner at Red Bull. He said:
“Team Verstappen had been briefing certain journalists and Christian’s just come more and more under pressure, and he lost key people like Adrian Newey, like Rob Marshall, like Jonathan Wheatley.
“I think his failing on that was convincing himself and trying to convince everybody else that they weren’t really doing that much anymore, and it really didn’t matter, he’d got a better crew behind them. But that wasn’t correct, and I think we’ve seen [that].
“But let’s remember, this is a team that was on pole position last weekend in Silverstone, one of the toughest circuits in the world, and have won two grands prix this year. It’s not exactly like it’s been a disaster and they completely non-performed.
“But I think there were too many things working against him, and I think eventually… He had a lot of support from Chalerm Yoovidhya [Red Bull co-founder/owner], and I think eventually that’s faded away, and the inevitable has happened.”
Horner was replaced by former Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies. Brundle described the sudden replacement as an “odd” move and pointed out that “Team Verstappen” was not happy with Horner heading the team. He added:
“For whatever reason, they’ve decided that Christian’s not the man to lead them into the next phase, that Laurent Mekies is, and other people they’ll, no doubt, put around him.
“So, it’s just odd. This is a strange time to do it, and a strange urgency, I would say to that.
“We don’t know what’s gone on behind closed doors, but I do know that Team Verstappen were not happy with him there.”
When Brundle was asked if the Verstappens offered Red Bull a choice to either keep them or Horner, especially given Max’s rumored talks with Mercedes, the Sky F1 presenter said:
“I don’t know, but what’s absolutely clear is that the Verstappen camp have been lobbing in hand grenades for quite some months now, and some of them have gone off, and it’s been pretty relentless in that respect.
“And I think at times, Max’s dad, Jos, has made it absolutely clear that he thinks Christian shouldn’t be leading the company and leading the team.”
Brundle confirmed that Team Verstappen contributed to Horner’s ousting, but clarified he was unsure of what exactly played out behind closed doors. However, he still chose to stand by what he had heard and seen. He said:
“So I would, yes, they played a key role in Christian’s exit.
“But like I say, unless you’re behind closed doors, then you don’t know for certain.
“But, there are certain things I do know, and certain things I have seen and heard that makes me think they were pretty involved in this decision.”
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