Max Verstappen reportedly could use his wings to fly away from Red Bull Racing over the ongoing Christian Horner scandal.
The three-time World Champion driver Verstappen’s father, Jos, told friends that Max will leave the Formula 1-based team if Horner remains in power, according to The Telegraph.
Horner, Red Bull’s racing boss since its inception in 2005, recently was cleared in an in-house workplace misconduct investigation into “coercive behavior” — only to have hundreds of text messages and photos between him and a female employee leaked shortly thereafter.
Max Verstappen (l.) and Red Bull principal Christian Horner (r.) celebrate Verstappen’s Bahrain GP win on March 2, 2024. Getty Images
Christian Horner and wife Geri Halliwell arrive holding hands at the Bahrain GP on March 2, 2024. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/ShutterstockHorner is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.
Leaders in and around Formula 1 reportedly received 79 screenshots of communication between Horner and the unidentified employee via an anonymous email last week.
Christian Horner and Geri Halliwell kiss at the Bahrain GP. PA Images via Getty Images
Max Verstappen (c.) and his dad Jos (r.) with Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen (l.) on Thursday. Getty ImagesSpecific details of the contents are unknown even though Horner claims he “fully cooperated.”
Jos Verstappen recently called for Horner to step down. The two reportedly had a heated exchange last week.
Here's everything we know about Christian Horner's sexting scandal
Christian Horner, the team principal of the Red Bull F1 team, is being accused of “inappropriate, controlling behavior” following leaked allegedly salacious messages between him and a female employee.
Horner, who is married to former Spice Girl Gerri Halliwell, allegedly commented to the female employee that it would be good for her to stretch her legs in response to her stating it would be good for him to do so after a long flight, according to reports.
The leak, which was sent to nearly 200 people in a Google document, included nearly 80 images of screenshots with messages to the woman, including: “I keep thinking about Spanx” and “What’s underneath at the moment?”
Horner also allegedly asked the woman for selfies of her in pajamas, and one message referenced what the Daily Mail described as a “solo sex act.”
The employee reportedly asked Horner to stop and attempted to turn the tables by asking him how he would feel if his wife was doing the same thing with an employee, according to reports.
Red Bull Racing cleared Horner of any violations of misconduct following an internal probe.
“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations,” Horner said Thursday in a statement.
“There is tension here while he (Horner) remains in position,” Jos previously told the Daily Mail after his son won the Bahrain Grand Prix. ‘The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Jos Verstappen denied allegations that he was involved in the email leak, citing his son’s success with Red Bull and no motivation to get in the way.
Geri Halliwell talks with Jos Verstappen on March 2, 2024. Getty ImagesA double whammy would occur if Verstappen left Red Bull for racing rival Mercedes.
Jos Verstappen and Mercedes-AMG Petronas team CEO Toto Wolff were seen together multiple times at the season-opening race last week and stayed in the same hotel, according to The Telegraph.
If the conversations are a flirtation leading to a partnership, they are not hiding the courtship well — if at all.
Wolff downplayed — but did not dismiss — the possibility of adding Max Verstappen to his lineup after Sunday’s race.
“I think the driver will always choose the quickest car,” Wolff said. “That is fundamentally what it’s all about. At the moment, the Red Bull is the quickest car so that will always be in my opinion the priority.”
