Lewis Hamilton says Jos Verstappen’s input “not helpful” for Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton says Jos Verstappen’s involvement in the controversy around Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner is “not helpful” for his son Max Verstappen.

Verstappen Sr said at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix that Red Bull risked being “torn apart” if Horner, who dominated headlines at F1’s season-opener, remained in his post.

An internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against Horner was dismissed last week, but the 50-year-old faced renewed pressure when an anonymous email including messages purporting to involve him was leaked the following day.

Verstappen Sr made the bombshell remarks against Horner after a falling out in Bahrain, and reportedly also told friends his son could leave Red Bull due to the discontent.

Three-time world champion Verstappen said his father, who is not attending this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, is “not a liar” when he was quizzed about the comments on Wednesday.

"My dad and I are very close,” the Dutchman added. "We call every day even if he is not around.

"But I am not a guy who likes to speak a lot about certain stuff and I just want to focus on the driving and if there are issues we try to resolve it within the team.

"That is what I can say about things. For the team, it is very important we can talk about the performance of our great car.”

Hamilton was asked for his view on the situation and replied: "I don't know the details of it so I don't know what he's basing these foundations off.

“But at the end of the day, he's not a part of the team, he's a parent and so that's just an opinion, but it's definitely not helpful.”

The Mercedes driver added: "I think it is a very thin line to walk. It's also dependent on your relationship with your parent.

“You meet some people who have a great relationship with their parents, and they've been amazing parents, and then you've got people that have had bad relationships. And this is not necessarily parents that have been good to them.

“So I don't know about his [Verstappen’s] relationships. Obviously, you hear things here and there. But Max is a grown man, and he's a champion, and I'm sure he can make his own decisions.

“In our world, as drivers, it's very, very easy to be misled by people whispering in your ear, and perhaps not guiding you always the right way.

“I'm not saying it's the case there, because they're doing great. But I know in sports, other athletes that I've spoken to that I see, whether it's in tennis - and I've experienced it - when you sometimes don't have the right guidance around you, it leads to you either making the wrong decisions or not being able to perhaps be the best at what you do.

“But that's clearly not the case there, he's performing well.

"So it is very difficult because you want your parent to be your parent, and have a good relationship. But when business is involved, it makes it really difficult.”