Christian Horner 'had blazing row with Max Verstappen's father' as Red Bull war explodes after Bahrain GP

Christian Horner 'had blazing row with Max Verstappen's father' as Red Bull war explodes after Bahrain GP

WATCH NOW: Bev Turner weighs in on Christian Horner allegations

Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 03/03/2024

- 07:00

The 50-year-old helped the F1 side dominate during Saturday's event in the Middle East

Christian Horner reportedly had a blazing row with Max Verstappen's father, Jos, before Saturday's Grand Prix in Bahrain.

Red Bull cleared Horner of misconduct earlier this week but, less than 24 hours later, his WhatsApp and text messages were allegedly leaked.


Horner is adamant he won't be resigning, with the Briton eager to stay in his role of team principal - having held the position ever since 2005.

Yet his relationship with Jos is broken, with the Dutchman criticising Horner in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Christian Horner Jos Verstappen

Christian Horner reportedly had a blazing row with Jos Verstappen before the Dutchman criticised the Red Bull chief

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"There is tension here while he remains in position," he told the publication after his son won the race in the Middle East.

"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."

And the newspaper says that, on Friday, Horner and Jos had a 'blazing row' in the Red Bull chief's paddock office on Friday.

The argument in question took place after qualifying, with Verstappen securing pole position before winning the main event a day later.

Jos apparently ended the argument by storming out, before later returning to the room.

The Dutchman and Horner are said to have 'reluctantly shaken hands', but it appears the war is far from over.

Horner was joined by wife Geri Halliwell for the race, with the pair holding hands in front of the world in a strong show of unity.

Geri has, however, reportedly been left 'humiliated' after the alleged messages sent by Horner were sent around in an email.

It has also been claimed she is shutting out other members of the Spice Girls who have been hoping to provide support for the 51-year-old.

Horner was asked if he was confident of clinging to his position at Red Bull after the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He kept his answer short, saying: "Absolutely. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

Verstappen, meanwhile, admitted he was delighted after laying down a marker and continuing his dominance of the sport.

The Red Bull star is in a league of his own, with the rest of the drivers on the grid struggling to get anywhere near the defending champion.

And Verstappen was pleased with the way the new RB20 performed as he looks to win the F1 title for the fourth year in a row.

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Christian Horner Jos Verstappen

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen celebrated together after Red Bull dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix

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“It’s unbelievable. I think today went even better than expected," he admitted.

"I think the car was really nice to drive, on every [tyre] compound I think we had a lot of pace.

“It was just super enjoyable to drive today, we really stayed out of trouble and it’s a great start to the year – it couldn’t have been better.

“It’s always very special to have these kind of days because they don’t happen that often, that it just all goes perfect, you are at one with the car and everything just feels great.”

He added: "I think the start was good.

Christian Horner Geri Halliwell

Christian Horner and Geri Halliwell put on a united front at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday

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“Of course, the first corner is a very tight hairpin, so naturally you want to defend the inside just to be safe, so that’s what we did and basically from there onwards we just focused on our own race.

"It’s a long season. It’s a great place in the world to be anyway so for me, a couple of days of rest and we go again.”

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