Evelyn CamdenRed Bull faces internal turmoil as Jos Verstappen urges peace and calm. The team grapples with a power struggle and a public relations crisis, overshadowing their on-track efforts ahead of the Australian GP.
Jos Verstappen is calling for “peace” and “calm” behind the scenes at Red Bull as his son Max continues to face a barrage of questions about Christian Horner’s power struggle at each race.
The saga surrounding the team’s leadership and Horner’s dealings with a now-suspended employee is still unfolding.
As we reported, the woman has now filed a complaint with the FIA via the Formula 1 governing body’s ethics committee and has also appealed the findings of Red Bull’s own internal investigation, which had cleared Horner of any wrongdoing.
“A timetable for her appeal process is being developed,” a source stated.
Other sources report that Horner, Dr. Helmut Marko, and the Verstappens want to implement a “public cease-fire” on the scandal before this weekend’s Australian GP.
While participating in a rally in Belgium – which he won – this weekend, Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, admitted that a power struggle was still ongoing at Red Bull.
“That’s part of the problem,” he told the Belgian news agency Sporza, “but it’s also necessary that there’s now peace in the team. It’s necessary to find a bit of calm, but given the circumstances, it will take time, I think.”
“I can’t say much about it,” Verstappen Sr. added. “I hope they can soon focus again on racing, because that’s what it’s about. And it’s important for Max to keep winning.”
“The car is working very well, and there’s nothing wrong between the engineers and him. Most of the time, Max can deflect, but he gets way too many questions about this. He doesn’t like it, but that’s also part of Formula 1.”
Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 team principal, had indeed fanned the flames in recent days but also sees the situation calming down at Red Bull.
“Well, for now, it doesn’t seem like they are pressing that self-destruct button because they finished first and second, far ahead of the others.”
“These things can be delayed in having an impact, but I think we need to focus on ourselves. They will certainly put out the fire one way or another.”
“What we need to do is give our drivers the best possible car, because it’s not the drivers who are the problem. It’s that our machine doesn’t work as we think.”
Jos Verstappen Calls for Calm at Red Bull. Jos Verstappen Calls for Calm at Red Bull
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