The decision of several key figures at Red Bull Racing to leave the F1 team is exactly what Jos Verstappen feared at the beginning of the year, the former F1 driver has told Motorsport.com.
At the start of the year, the father of three-time world champion Max Verstappen claimed that ‘the team is in danger of being torn apart’, so long as Christian Horner – who was accused by a female employee of inappropriate and controlling behaviour – continued to act as team principal of the Milton Keynes based outfit.
“It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode”, he told Mail Sport. “There is tension here while he remains in position.”
Last week, it was announced that Red Bull’s Head of Race Strategy Will Courtenay is leaving to join rivals McLaren as the team’s new sporting director.
The Briton had been with Red Bull for more than twenty years, having joined when the team was still competing under the Jaguar guise.
Courtenay’s planned departure follows those of chief technical officer Adrian Newey, who will become managing technical partner at Aston Martin, and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who will join Audi’s Formula 1 project as team principal.
“Yes, this is what I warned about”, Jos Verstappen responded to Motorsport.com at the East Belgian Rally last weekend, when asked about another veteran team member leaving Red Bull Racing.
Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, talk in the garage as mechanics work on the car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“The team then says: ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, we have someone else [who we can put on that position].’
“But it’s too many people now [leaving]. And Max gets questions about it every time and so on. So yeah, I think it’s just not good, what’s happening at the moment.”
Horner, who has been cleared of allegations of inappropriate behaviour after an internal investigation by an independent lawyer, said on multiple occasions that Red Bull has enough strength in depth to cope with the departure of an individual.
But Verstappen senior believes: “He [Horner] always glosses over it.”
On track, things have not been going smoothly for Red Bull for a while now.
While Verstappen won seven of the first ten races of the 2024 F1 season, he is without a win in eight races and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw McLaren overtake Red Bull at the top of the constructors’ standings.
Furthermore, Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship shrunk to 52 points at the last race in Singapore after Lando Norris dominated the event.
