Max Verstappen reacts to father Jos’ Christian Horner criticism: “He’s not a liar”

Max Verstappen has given his reaction to his father Jos Verstappen’s criticism of Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner following the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Jos was critical of Horner in Bahrain amid the ongoing saga surrounding the Red Bull team principal.

While Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour, the situation isn’t entirely resolved.

Alleged evidence from the investigation was leaked to the press and senior F1 officials, while Jos reignited things by claiming that the saga could risk tearing Red Bull apart, suggesting Horner could resign.

Shortly after that, the reigning world champion was linked with Mercedes after Jos was pictured talking to Toto Wolff after the race.

Giving his view on Jos' comments about Horner, Verstappen said in Jeddah:  “I’m the driver, I don’t know what’s happening higher up. But from my side, I’m contracted to focus on the performance side of things. 

“That’s what I’ll focus on this weekend. What has been said in Bahrain from everyone is to just leave that behind and hopefully have a quieter weekend here.”

Verstappen maintained a neutral view on the situation as he wanted to avoid picking a “side” but conceded that it would be “weird” if he had an opposing opinion to his own father.

“I guess he [Jos] clearly felt like that. But from my side, it doesn’t matter being on one side or the other side,” he added.

“As a son of my dad’s it would be weird to be on a different side [than him]. But I just want to focus on the performance side of things and have less talk of what we are doing outside of the track than actual performance. We have a great car and look forward to a great year.

“Everyone in general, even if you have arguments or not, there are always things that can be worked out. Everyone is man enough and respectful enough to each other. I’ve not always agreed with things in general in F1, and that’s why it’s good to have a discussion about things. You might agree to disagree sometimes, that is sometimes what is happening in a relationship. That’s how it goes.”

Verstappen concluded by saying that Jos is “very outspoken” and “not a liar”.

“From how I know him already in go-karting, my dad is very outspoken. He’s not a liar, that’s for sure,” he explained.