06/03/2024
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen dismisses talk of him leaving Red Bull for Mercedes, though he admits the 2026 rules overhaul does raise a question mark in terms of the new power unit.
A week in which the youngster should have seen him celebrating getting his hopes of a fourth successive title off to the best possible start, has instead been dominated by the continuing fall-out from the Christian Horner saga.
It seemed that no sooner had the flag fallen in Bahrain than his father, Jos, was telling anyone who would listen that Red Bull risks "imploding" unless Horner is fired, subsequently revealing that his son has an escape clause in his contract while ensuring the cameras caught him talking to Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff.
While much of the saga is shrouded in mystery, thereby allowing sections of the media to run riot, there was no escaping the spotlight for the world champion today as he arrived for the second race of the season.
Asked if he will see out his contract, which runs until 2028, and is currently the longest in F1, Verstappen said: "That has, of course, always been the intention of signing. That's why we signed so long to be here.
"Of course, it's about the performance of the car," he added, "and from 2026 onwards, that is a bit of a question mark with new regulations. But I knew that, when I signed my contract, I also know what they have done for me in my career.
"So yeah, the intention is, of course, absolutely, to stay with this team, because I really enjoy it. I'm also really happy within the team. So as long as we perform there is no reason also to leave."
Asked about his father's comments, the youngster was a little more evasive.
"I don't know, because I'm the driver," he said, "I don't know what's happening higher up, right? From my side, you know, I'm contracted to just focus on the performance side of things, and of course that is also what I will focus on this weekend.
"Of course ideally what has been said in Bahrain from everyone, basically, is to just leave that behind, you know, and hopefully have a bit more of a quieter weekend here."
Asked about his father's claim that the team risks imploding, he said: "I don't know... I mean, I hope not. It shouldn't be, it's a strong company, a strong team, a lot of strong team members, so yeah, normally not."
Of course, it is natural, that many feel that Verstappen Snr was merely reflecting his son's opinion.
"I can understand that," said Max, "and of course my Dad and I, we are very close, we call every day, even if he's not around or whatever. But at the other end also, you know, I'm not normally, I'm not the guy who likes to speak a lot about certain stuff. I just want to focus on the driving bit, and if there are any issues, we try to always, of course, resolve it within the team."
Asked if he thinks his father regrets speaking out, the three-time world champion said: "I haven't asked him that, but my dad is, I think, from how I know him, from when I was already in go-karts, he's always very outspoken, he's not a liar, that's for sure.
"Of course, that is from my side what I can say about things, but I think in general for the team, it's very important, I think, from every side of the team, that it's just that we can finally talk about the performance of the great car that we actually have, which seems like no one is really mentioning that too much in the last few days."
I think everyone, in general, even if you have arguments or not, there are always things that can be worked out," he replied, when asked if he thought his father and Horner could sort out their differences, "I think everyone is man enough and respectful enough to each other anyway, in that sense.
"I think sometimes, I mean, I also don't always agree with everything that happened. I'm not talking about lately or whatever, just in general in F1, with everything, and that's why sometimes it's good to have a discussion about things. You might agree to disagree sometimes, that's also how you have what's happening in a relationship, but that's how it goes."
The youngster was keen also to suggest that his father's comments have been twisted in a bid to make it look as though he is part of an agenda.
"The thing is, people will start making up stuff or speculate, or they think that they know why he said certain kind of things. But at the end of the day, he's the only one, and that's what social media is for, right, it's to speculate and make up stuff. There's not much that I can do with that, to be honest."
As regards the Mercedes rumours, he said: "I think no one would have ever realised or seen that Lewis would move to Ferrari. In life in general, you never know what happens or what comes to you, or whatever happens around you, or what might influence you. So you can never say 100%, that's how it's going to be. I approach my life like that.
"But I also don't think about it too much. I'm very relaxed. Like I said, I'm very happy with the team. The performance is there. There's no reason to leave."