Jos Verstappen Leaves Cryptic Instagram Message Amidst Public Feud With Christian Horner

Red Bull’s off-track problems seem never-ending. 2024 began with the Christian Horner scandal. Max Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen then aired their dirty laundry, confirming a ‘power struggle’ within the team and accusing the Red Bull Team Principal of forcing the team into a state of being “torn apart”. But as the investigation slowly subsided, so did their feud. However, at Red Bull’s home race weekend in Austria, the hostility has re-ignited, inducing a mysterious Instagram post from Jos.

Every year, Red Bull has a non-televised ‘Legends Parade’ ahead of the Austrian GP where former drivers take the wheel of F1 cars. Jos Verstappen, who drove a 1972 McLaren M8F in 2023, was scheduled to drive the RB8 this year. However, the 52-year-old withdrew from the event, saying, “Christian Horner did everything he could to not let me drive”. Though the team boss later denied this claim, the tension in their garage remains.

Several hours after his public accusations, Jos dropped a cryptic message on Instagram. As per a screenshot taken by @f1gossippofficial, the Dutchman wrote: “My grandmother always said: never tell others too much about yourself. Remember that in times of envy, the blind begin to see, the deaf hear, and the dumb speak.”

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Considering how unabashed Jos is with his words, this post might be directed at Horner. However, this disruption in peace after Christian Horner and Helmut Marko called a ‘truce’ is detrimental for the team. Max Verstappen too feels this way.

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Max Verstappen feels his father Jos Verstappen’s sidelining could’ve been avoidedSince the beginning of the season, Max Verstappen has refrained from getting caught up in the controversies surrounding Red Bull. That is reflected in his on-track performance, with results being consistently outstanding. To ensure that their run continues, he has publicly expressed how this Jos v/s Christian row could’ve been avoided.

“Naturally, of course, it is not nice, for myself, for my dad, for Christian or the team,” the Dutchman said, as quoted by Autosport. “Of course, I don’t want these things to happen,” he added. After explaining why his father felt unwanted and justifying his comments, Max shifted focus to the performance side of things. “I understand the other end is to focus on performance that it takes. So I want a good relationship with everyone. But, of course, this scenario could have been avoided,” he concluded.

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via Reuters

At this stage, everybody within Red Bull must be tired of such undesirable happenings. Today, it might not affect performance, but the declining morale could do so eventually. Max Verstappen’s continued run of victories is the only silver lining sustaining the team spirit. After his brilliant qualifying Pole position, four-tenths clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris in P2, an easy victory at the Milton Keynes outfit’s home ground might be on the cards.