Max Verstappen’s father Jos has reignited the feud with Christian Horner by accusing the Red Bull team boss of forcing him not to take part in the team’s parade at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen Jnr announced on Thursday that he wants to stay with the team after his future became the subject of discussion after Horner was accused by a colleague of inconsistent and controlling behavior earlier this year, which he strongly denied.
Horner, 50, was cleared by an internal investigation, but the fallout saw Verstappen Snr publicly speaking out against the Red Bull boss, claiming the Formula 1 team would ‘explode’ if Horner kept his job. The pair had a heated argument during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in March.
In his latest public attack on Horner, Verstappen Senior accuses Horner of having him removed from the Red Bull Legends parade ahead of the team’s home race in Austria this weekend. He has also withdrawn from the event.
“In the past few days I’ve heard from various sides that Christian Horner did everything he could to not let me drive and otherwise make sure nothing would be filmed,” Verstappen Snr told De Telegraaf. “Then I think: say it to my face. It doesn’t have to be like that for me, I find it very disappointing.”
The Legends Parade has become an annual event prior to the Austrian Grand Prix, with drivers taking a lap around the Red Bull Ring circuit in a variety of famous cars.
The 52-year-old Verstappen, himself a former Formula 1 driver, would reportedly drive the RB8, the Red Bull car that took Sebastian Vettel to the third of four consecutive drivers’ titles he won with the team.
Two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi and race winners David Coulthard, Johnny Herbert and Gerhard Berger will take part.
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