Max Verstappen: Row between father and Christian Horner ‘could have been avoided’

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - Max Verstappen says the disagreement between his father Jos and Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner is “not nice” and "could have been avoided". 

The 52-year-old Dutchman claimed on Friday that Horner had deliberately blocked him from driving Red Bull’s 2012 title-winning RB8 in Sunday’s Legends Parade at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Speaking to the website of Dutch magazine Formula 1, Verstappen Sr said he is “completely done” with Horner and labelled the Red Bull team principal “childish”.

Horner refuted the claims later on Friday, insisting “there was no veto from my side”.

Following his victory in the Austria sprint race on Saturday, Verstappen was asked what he thought about the row.

“Naturally of course it's not nice, I think not for myself, not for my dad, not for Christian, not for the team,” Verstappen said.

“Of course you don’t want these things to happen. I think my dad has been quite clear about the reason behind it, and of course I can understand his opinion on that.

“At the end of the day, he gets asked to drive the car, finds out that he’s not wanted to drive the car while my dad, he actually doesn’t care about driving the car, but he got asked and said please do it for the fans, Dutch fans, blah blah blah.

“Red Bull, we have a great relationship with, home track. So I understand. On the other hand, I’m here to focus on the performance side of things, so I want a good relationship with everyone.

“But of course this scenario could have been avoided.”

The latest tension between Verstappen Sr and Horner comes in the wake of a reported falling out at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

After allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner were dismissed following an interval investigation, Verstappen Sr warned that Red Bull was “in danger of being torn apart” if Horner remained in his post.