Max Verstappen criticized the McLaren CEO at Formula 1, Zach Brownfor wanting to “create confusion” with the comments about the domino effect that the departure of Adrian Newey can create in Red Bullwith the loss of other important names.
Over the weekend in Miami, Brown said he saw an increase in resume submissions from current Red Bull employees amid allegations of a power struggle involving Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and the Austrian and Thai sides of the energy drink brand.
Horner refuted the comments, stating that it would be “inevitable” for other teams to try to capitalize on the situation. Verstappen agreed with his boss, citing that Red Bull’s success made its employees targets of rivals in F1.
“He obviously wants to create confusion. For us as a team, we can’t do anything about comments like that,” said the Dutchman. “From his point of view, I understand, logically, why everyone is trying to attract our people, and that’s normal in the world of F1.”
“But I’m not interested in that either. I see the headlines, but I don’t even click on them.”
Verstappen added that many of Red Bull’s top names have long-term contracts with the team, but admits that “human aspects” need to be taken into consideration. The Dutchman, who is guaranteed until the end of 2028, is publicly courted by Mercedes, in the expectation that he will be dissatisfied with the situation of the Austrian team.
He feels he is in a similar position to those who are locked into long-term deals with Red Bull, and that these are not “100% guaranteed” if people are not happy.
“In life, we can’t guarantee anything. It’s also possible that I won’t wake up early tomorrow, so, in the end, you never know with 100% certainty about things in life. Of course, many agreements are made but, in the end, it’s also about people being happy with their work and feeling appreciated. There are several human aspects involved.”
