Red Bull braced for explosive Monaco GP as Max Verstappen’s dad returns for first time since rant at Christian Horner
RED BULL RACING are braced for a potential powderkeg as this week’s Monaco Grand Prix sees the return of Jos Verstappen for the first time since his explosive rant at boss Christian Horner.
Verstappen flipped his lid at the Bahrain Grand Prix and said the team was “in danger of being torn apart” if Horner stays as team principal.
He added that “it will explode” after Horner was cleared following an internal investigation into an allegation of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague.
Verstappen, who is the father of F1 world champion Max Verstappen, has not been to a race since but is scheduled to be in Monaco, given he lives in the Principality.
It is understood that the son of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, Mark Mateschitz is also set to attend the race.
It comes after Horner was given a show of support from Red Bull’s majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya in the Bahrain GP.
The fallout of the investigation saw legendary Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey take the decision to leave the team at the end of the season.
Reports suggest Newey will join Lewis Hamilton at Red Bull next season.
Things have also not gone as well on track for the team either.
Red Bull failed to win just one race last season, but have already been beaten twice this year – once by Ferrari‘s Carlos Sainz and once by McLaren‘s Lando Norris.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
Last week at the Imola Grand Prix, Verstappen won by just 0.7 seconds from Norris.
Following the win last week, Verstappen said: “I think the whole race I had to push flat out to try and make a gap initially.
“I think on the medium tyres we were quite strong, on the hard tyres it was just a bit more difficult to manage, especially in the last 10, 15 laps.
“I had no grip anymore, I was really sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing in, so the last 10 laps I was just flat out.
“It’s very difficult when the tyres are not working anymore and you have to go flat out.
“I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily we didn’t, and super happy of course to win here today.”
Complete F1 2024 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix and start time this year