Max Verstappen addresses Jos-Christian Horner feud: ‘No conflict, just different opinions’

Max Verstappen has insisted that his father - Jos Verstappen - is “not in conflict” with Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

Red Bull were rocked by a scandal involving Horner after allegations emerged ahead of the 2024 F1 season of inappropriate behaviour involving a female colleague.

While Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing following an investigation, the drama didn’t stop there.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, Jos effectively called for Horner to step down from his role as team principal otherwise it risked Red Bull being “torn apart”.

During this time, the three-time world champion was linked with a move to Mercedes amid the fallout.

With Red Bull remaining F1’s top team - and the drama surrounding Horner reducing - it appears things are back on track.

In an interview with The Guardian, Verstappen was asked about the state of his father’s relationship with the current team boss.

“My dad will always stay with me of course,” Verstappen said.

“They are not in conflict. People can have different opinions but that’s a different story.”

Verstappen has insisted that he wants to remain at Red Bull if certain “pillars” remain in place.

The Dutchman has made clear that Helmut Marko is one of those pillars, as well as his dad.

With regards to Horner, Verstappen noted his important during his first years at Red Bull.

“There are a lot of pillars involved,” he added. “When I jumped to Red Bull Racing Christian is a pillar within that whole story, But it’s always really about everyone being back on track focused on performance.

“We have said it many times now, we are very focused on the performance side of things at the moment and hopefully we can keep that going.”

Verstappen conceded that the controversy around something - and the questions around it - was not something he enjoyed, detracting from his “job”.

“I would rather not have these stories, these things going on within the team,” he explained. “We just have to deal with it and move on from it. I am contracted to the team to do my job, that’s performance, that’s what I am focused on. I am not a politician, I am not someone who likes to be political.

“I just focus on the performance with the people around me, try to distract myself from, let’s say, the negative.”