No scandal drives F1 star Max Verstappen out.
After months of hypothesis over his future, the three-time defending Formulation 1 champion has confirmed he’ll stay with the Crimson Bull crew in 2025.
On Thursday forward of the Austrian Grand Prix, the Dutch driver was repeatedly requested about his dedication to Crimson Bull Racing earlier than he lastly replied: “Okay, sure.”
“I believe we're already engaged on subsequent yr's automobile as properly,” he mentioned. “I believe should you focus loads on that, it means you're additionally using for the crew.
Whereas Verstappen is below contract with Crimson Bull till 2028, there have been rumors and intense hypothesis that the racing phenom is leaving Crimson Bull as a result of ongoing scandal with crew principal Christian Horner.
In February, the F1 crew boss, who’s married to ex-Spice Lady's Geri Halliwell, was accused of misconduct by a crew worker and leaked a string of sexually suggestive messages.
The strain arose when Verstappen's father, Jos, informed pals that Max would depart Crimson Bull if Horner remained in cost, based on The Telegraph.
“There’s stress whereas he (Horner) stays put,” Jos informed the Day by day Mail after his son gained the Bahrain Grand Prix title in March. “The crew is in peril of falling aside. It could possibly't go on like this. It's going to blow up. He's enjoying the sufferer when he's the one inflicting the issues.”
Horner attended the Bahrain Grand Prix together with his spouse and the 2 arrived on the race hand in hand.
At a press convention in March, Horner accused folks of making an attempt to make use of his alleged habits for their very own aggressive benefit.
“The one cause it bought a lot consideration is due to the leak within the media. And she or he tried, particularly for my household, as a result of it was all targeted in a single course. And what occurred after that’s different folks took benefit of it. What occurred then is that others benefited from it, and that's possibly not the good aspect of our sport,” Horner informed reporters.
Jos Verstappen has denied allegations that he was concerned within the electronic mail leaks, stressing that his son's success with Crimson Bull gave him no cause to intrude.
His son leads the drivers' standings by 69 factors forward of McLaren's Lando Norris and has gained seven of his ten races up to now, together with final weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
When requested about Horner – who has been a director of the group because it was based in 2005 – the F1 star mentioned he was targeted on the “efficiency aspect of issues”.
“Pay attention, after I take a look at how Christian works within the crew, he's been an unbelievable crew chief, so completely, performance-wise, you may't even query that,” Max mentioned, based on ESPN.
Regardless of quite a few accusations and rumors, Horner maintained his innocence all through the investigative course of and retained his place within the group.
Verstappen, who joined the Crimson Bull crew in August 2014, has secured three consecutive F1 championships with the crew and has develop into such a pressure that betting on him to win any race requires betting about $900 to win $100.
There have been constant hyperlinks suggesting his transfer to Mercedes because of Lewis Hamilton's vacant seat for 2025. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has expressed curiosity in Verstappen becoming a member of the crew, saying he would “love” to see him as their driver. .
Nonetheless, it’s clear that the F1 legend is firmly rooted at Crimson Bull for the foreseeable future.
