AS Max Verstappen triumphantly held aloft the Bahrain Grand Prix trophy, his team boss Christian Horner might have sighed with relief.
Not only had the Red Bull chief tasted victory but Spice Girl wife Geri had been at his side heaping on public displays of affection like treacle.
Surely, the sexting row that has swirled around Horner would now slowly deflate like a punctured tyre?
Enter stage left Verstappen’s uncompromising dad — known during his own racing days as “Jos the Boss” — to take a flamethrower to the carefully PRed plot line.
Verstappen senior insisted Horner is “playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems”.
His barbed comments came after sexually suggestive text messages Horner allegedly sent to a female Red Bull employee were leaked on Thursday.
READ MORE ON THE FEUD
The dad of three-times World Champion Max added of Horner: “There is tension here while he remains in position.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode.”
A simmering months-long feud between two of Formula One’s big beasts had plunged into the open.
And Horner — well acquainted with the rough and tumble of F1 — will know that in Verstappen Snr he has a formidable adversary.
Most read in Motorsport
British ex F1 champion Damon Hill once said of Dutchman Jos, who he competed alongside in the 1990s: “He can, and has, very much looked after himself.”
Ruthless mentor Verstappen Snr, 52, has coached and managed 26-year-old son Max to become one of F1’s greatest drivers — and the jewel in Red Bull’s crown.
Though not a Red Bull employee, it has naturally given his dad considerable heft in the team run by Horner.
The Red Bull chief had last month tried to quash rumours of friction between himself and the Verstappens.
With his usual slick performance before the cameras, he said: “There’s always going to be speculation but we’re together as one team, that’s the way we’ve always been and that’s the way we continue to be.”
By Friday evening it was evident that Verstappen Snr and Horner were in fact at loggerheads.
The pair locked horns in Horner’s office at the F1 paddock in Bahrain.
What exactly was said between them is unclear. But the pair were said to have had a “blazing row” before Verstappen Snr stormed out.
He would later return to shake hands but the relationship appears severed beyond repair.
The meeting had come two days after an investigation by Red Bull’s parent company had cleared Horner of “coercive behaviour” towards a woman colleague.
He always told her he’d done nothing wrong. This will really hurt Geri, who has put everything into their marriage
Just 24 hours after he was cleared, a cache of 79 WhatsApp screenshots and photographs allegedly sent by Horner to the female employee were leaked anonymously to F1 bosses and media outlets.
Horner’s wife Geri was said to be “heartbroken and humiliated”.
A source added: “He always told her he’d done nothing wrong. This will really hurt Geri, who has put everything into their marriage.”
Verstappen Snr has been quick to slam suggestions he was behind the WhatsApp trove and that he wanted Horner ousted from his role.
The ex-driver said: “That wouldn’t make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?”
A Red Bull spokesperson said of the rift between Verstappen Snr and Horner: “There are no issues here. The team are united and we are focused on racing.”
Now, as champion of the world, Max has been dragged into his father’s bitter feud with Horner.
Asked about the Red Bull civil war four times over the weekend, he failed to back his long-time team manager.
The fearless driver said he was “fully focused on the car and the performance”.
With the toxic atmosphere damaging the F1 brand, it was claimed that Max was approached by the sport’s president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to publicly back Horner.
It’s damaging the sport . . . This is damaging on a human level
Mohammed Ben Sulayem
After qualifying drives on Friday the pair had a discussion which they tried to keep secret by covering their mouths with their hands.
But a nearby observer heard Ben Sulayem tell the driver: “You must publicly back Christian.”
While another source said Max responded by telling Ben Sulayem he should open an investigation into the WhatsApp scandal instead.
Ben Sulayem wants to end the Red Bull civil war, admitting it is tarnishing the image of F1.
He told the Financial Times: “It’s damaging the sport . . . This is damaging on a human level.”
Meanwhile, bullish Verstappen Snr was seen dining with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff in Bahrain.
The Dutchman said it was just a meeting of old friends — but could it be a sign his brilliant son is ready to quit Red Bull if the Horner civil war is not resolved?
After Sunday’s race Wolff was dismissive of Verstappen switching to Mercedes, saying: “The driver will always choose the quickest car.
“At the moment, the Red Bull is the quickest car so that will always be, in my opinion, the priority.”
Horner said of last week’s tumult: “There was a full lengthy internal process that was completed by an independent KC [King’s Counsel] and the grievance that was raised was dismissed. End of. Move on.
“I’ve always been entirely confident that I would be here. My focus is on the season ahead.”
Now a slew of fresh allegations against Horner has emerged in a 19-page investigation by a specialist magazine.
The article names and pictures the female staff member he is alleged to have texted and documents the power struggle at the top of Red Bull.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Sources close to Horner dismissed the piece as “full of inaccuracies”.
Now the F1 circus moves to Saudi Arabia at the weekend — with the chance it will be more soap opera than motor race.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
