Christian Horner made his first public appearance at the Red Bull car launch yesterday since being investigated for allegations of inappropriate behavior. While there was a deliberate effort to refrain from asking Horner about the proceedings, journalists found creative ways to address the issue indirectly. While Horner made it clear he has received tremendous support from the team – especially Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez – recent rumors suggest his relationship with the reigning champion has worsened. But when did it become bad in the first place?

It started with a report by Motorsport-Total that read, “There are whispers that the personal relationship between Horner and Jos Verstappen is badly damaged.” These speculations first sparked when reports revealed the Dutch media leaked the story about Horner’s allegations. However, Fastest Pitstop’s X post suggests, “However, nobody wants to say exactly why [Horner and Jos’ relationship is damaged].”

“Max is having a hard time with Horner because he is fully behind his father,” the post added. Per the rumors, the three-time champion is loyal only to his father and Helmut Marko. Seeing as his father’s relationship with the team boss has been severely damaged, he’s been speculated to back Jos Verstappen. However, Max has chosen to remain neutral in the public eye.

In his statements, he neither outright supported Horner nor criticized him. For the most part, Max Verstappen alluded to concentrating on his performance rather than giving too much thought to what is happening behind the scenes. “I don’t know who writes such things. But between me and Christian, everything is as usual… I’m concentrating on my own performance. On being fit, on being prepared, on driving the car,” he said. Surprisingly, these aren’t the only speculations of a “broken” relationship surrounding Horner.

A few days ago, Fastest Pitstop posted, “The bond of friendship between Adrian Newey and Christian Horner is said to have been broken.” Seeing as they’ve worked together since 2006, these rumors may not hold much weight. And from the looks of it, all seemed well at the car launch. Speaking of the car launch, despite Red Bull’s efforts to steer clear of any conversation around the controversy, Horner did manage to address the issue. And his relationship with the Verstappens.

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Christian Horner finally opened up on the ongoing investigation against him

Before the start of the media round, Red Bull’s spokesperson told the journalists that questions about the internal investigation would not be addressed at all. However, they kept probing Horner indirectly by asking questions like how he was doing personally. At one point, though, Horner did speak about the investigation, saying it “will take its course.”

While Horner hopes for it to be over as soon as possible, he also clarified that the team is sticking to what it needs to do. “Everyone is concentrating on the season ahead of us,” stating that everything at the factory is “business as usual. There is an investigation that I am fully cooperating with. But that is happening in the background while we concentrate on the upcoming season.”

When asked about any friction or falling out between him and the Verstappens, Horner replied, “No. Not at all. I was with Jos and Max at Silverstone a couple of days ago.” He echoed Max’s comments about focusing on the season, saying, “Max is very focused on his job. He’s been very supportive.” 

Red Bull GmbH is allowing Horner to continue as the team principal until there’s concrete evidence of the allegations made against him. For now, all he and the team can do is wait and focus on the upcoming pre-season testing.

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