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By Saajan Jogia
Sports Contributing Writer
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Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has opened up on the lesser-known details of Christian Horner's exit and if the departure has affected him in any way. The four-time world champion confirmed that he knew about Horner's ousting in advance, revealing that the Red Bull management decided to follow an alternate approach.
Horner was dropped from the role of CEO and team principal after the British Grand Prix with immediate effect, but the real reason for the major decision has not been made public yet. Verstappen, who joined Red Bull in 2016, spent nearly nine years with Horner, celebrating huge success with four championship titles.
The Dutch driver said that he was told about Horner's exit by Red Bull's shareholders a day before the official announcement. He also hinted that the reason will be made public eventually. Verstappen told the media ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix:
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"I have a good relationship with them, you know, so I think it's quite normal that they inform some people in the team before it goes out. I think it's a standard practice.
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"I gave them my opinion. And I keep that to myself. And if they want to say more about it, they will do. And you will hear about it."
Notably, former driver and Sky Sports F1 presenter Martin Brundle claimed a few weeks ago that Max and his father, Jos Verstappen, "were not happy" with Horner leading the team.
Max has confirmed that Horner's ousting did not change anything for him at Red Bull and pointed out that the last one and a half years under Horner's rule were not ideal. He said:
"Now, I think people can have a difference of opinion here and then. And I actually expect that to happen because if everyone always agrees, there is a problem. You need to have difference of opinions. And yeah, that's now something that we work with in a different direction. I'm excited about it.
"Like you said, I don't think it will matter at all for my decision in the future. And yet, the only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can make it, really. And like I said, the last one and a half years have not been what we want to be. Now we try and be more competitive this year a little bit, but for sure also with the new regulations."
He added:
"Sitting here, you look back at those 20 years of Red Bull, I think we've had a lot of great years, great results. There are also years where it's not going that well. And I think the last one and a half years have not gone how we would have liked.
"Management decided they wanted to steer the ship in a different direction probably. Everyone else of course has to anyway agree to that and look forward. And I am looking forward. But at the same time, we do appreciate, of course, those 20 years and especially from my side the 10, 11 years that I've been part of Red Bull.
"Those things will always be remembered. And the relationship between myself and Christian, for example, that doesn't change. Of course, he's not here now during a race weekend. But it's still like a second family to me."
When asked if he contacted Horner after his ousting, Verstappen said:
"Yeah, I did. It was great to speak to him. And time will tell [if it was correct to drop him from Red Bull]."
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