Christian Horner: Jos Verstappen says controversy 'driving team apart'

Max Verstappen and Christian Horner celebrate victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday

The controversy around Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is "driving people apart", says the father of the team's F1 champion Max Verstappen.

An anonymous email, including messages purporting to involve Horner, was leaked on Thursday, a day after Red Bull dismissed a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against him.

Horner has refused to say if the leaked messages are genuine.

"It cannot continue this way," said former F1 driver Jos Verstappen.

"The situation is not good for the team and is driving people apart."

Verstappen denied that he was the source of the leaks.

The 51-year-old told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: "Why would I do that? Max has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, is performing great and feels at home here. I have no interest in that at all."

Verstappen made similar comments to the Daily Mail, saying Red Bull would "explode" if Horner remained in his position, adding: "He is playing the victim when he is the one causing problems."

Verstappen told BBC Sport he made the comments to the two newspapers after falling out with Horner in Bahrain.

He added that Max Verstappen had seen the comments and did not say anything.

A Red Bull spokesperson said: "There are no issues here. The team are united and we are focused on racing."

On Sunday the Telegraaf reported that Max Verstappen had been asked by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of F1's governing body the FIA, to back Horner publicly.

BBC Sport has independently verified the story.

Ben Sulayem's approach came after Max Verstappen gave only qualified support to Horner when asked four times in the lead-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday whether he had full faith and confidence in him.

The FIA has been approached for comment.

Over the Bahrain event, the FIA repeatedly said that it was in conversation with F1 management on the topic of the Horner allegations.

Jos Verstappen's intervention is potentially significant because Max wields major influence within Red Bull as a result of his success on the track.

It also reflects internal tensions known to exist within Red Bull, between Horner and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, and between the Thai majority owners and executives at the headquarters in Austria.

Last year the Verstappens backed Austrian Marko after he had a falling-out with Horner.

The company ownership is split, with 51% owned by the Yoovidhya family and 49% by Red Bull in Austria, under Mark Mateschitz, the son of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in October 2022.

Geri and Christian Horner were pictured together at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday

Max Verstappen started his campaign for a fourth consecutive world title with a dominant win in Bahrain.

The Horner controversy dominated events at the season-opening race.

A day after Red Bull announced that the grievance against him had been "dismissed" following an internal inquiry, an anonymous email including messages purporting to involve Horner was leaked.

Horner said: "I'm not going to comment on anonymous, speculative messages from an unknown source."

He added that he was "absolutely" confident he would be in his role for the entire season.

"I've always been entirely confident that I would be here," he said.

"There was a full, lengthy internal process that was completed by an independent KC. And the grievance that was raised was dismissed. End of. Move on."

An attempt to get him to say whether the messages were genuine was shut down by a Red Bull public relations handler.

Red Bull have refused to release the name of the lawyer involved or give any further details about the report that was compiled or how they reached their decision.

Horner's wife Geri visited the Bahrain GP on Saturday in an apparent display of unity.

Chalerm Yoovidhya, head of the Yoovidhya family, was also at the race. Yoovidhya declined to answer BBC Sport's questions.

The FIA said it was discussing the matter with commercial rights holder F1 Management.