Jos Verstappen, the father of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, has risked reopening with feud with Christian Horner after claiming the team ignored his son’s warning about the car following a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix performance.
The Dutch star could only finish second behind race winner Lando Norris, which is where he started on the grid after he was beaten by nearly four tenths in qualifying.
Verstappen did manage to overtake Norris off the line with a better start while the McLaren ace struggled with wheelspin, but the pace of the Papaya soon allowed him to catch up.
Norris then built a 20-second gap to Verstappen’s Red Bull as he couldn’t find grip, with the 26-year-old venting his frustration on the radio.
And Jos, who was involved in a bitter row with Horner in February after calling on him to resign, has told the Austrian team to reflect on their issues and claimed they ignored his son’s warnings.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say it, but I’m doing it anyway. The fact that you have to go back to the car from the beginning of this year says enough,” Verstappen Snr told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
“They just don’t have it right here at the moment. I think they should take a good look in the mirror.
“Max knew this was coming – he just didn’t have a chance. This way, it’s going to be really tough the rest of the year. Max is doing everything he can, but doesn’t have the material to finish it. It was already exceptional that he qualified second.”
Red Bull remain in front at the top of the F1 constructors’ standings with 434 points, with McLaren a further 30 points adrift. But the gap is closing with Norris regularly finishing on the podium and his team-mate Oscar Piastri also scoring significant points for the team.
Horner was asked about Verstappen’s issues towards the end of the race and the long-serving boss admitted McLaren were “in a different league”, adding the team had “learned lessons” from the weekend in Zandvoort.
“We did everything we could and Max converted P2 into a lead, but they were in a different league,” Horner said.
“I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons this weekend that have been really valuable and that was a solid drive from Checo [Sergio Perez]. Time to digest what’s happened here, damage limitation with P2.
“We need to understand where the deficit is. I think we’ve learned quite a lot this weekend but you could see the pace that they had at this track was outstanding. So we need to understand how we can improve performance on our car.”
Verstappen Snr’s comments will only trigger more alarm bells for Red Bull, with speculation continuing to swirl concerning the three-time world champion’s future as Mercedes look to recruit him for 2025 and beyond.
