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Max Verstappen has commented publicly for the first time on the internal investigation into Christian Horner.
Red Bull’s 2024 preparations continue in earnest as the internal investigation by the team’s parent company into CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner continues. Horner denies any wrongdoing following accusations from a female employee, as reported in Dutch media.
As part of the investigation from Red Bull GmbH, Horner attended a hearing on Friday. No outcome or decision is expected before the first race of the season.
Pre-season preparations have continued as normal while the investigation is carried out. Horner continues to be the face of the team, including taking a leading role at the launch of the RB20.
Horner took to the stage when the new car broke cover and took questions. No direct questions about the investigation were fielded to Horner at the launch.
Business as usual
As reported by motorsport.com, when asked about his relationship with Horner, Verstappen confirmed it remains as before:
“It’s the same as always – I can tell you that.”I mean, I don’t know who likes to write these kinds of things. But to me and Christian, it’s like always.”
From my side, I am very focused on my own performance to get ready, to be fit, to be ready to drive the car, to be discussing things with the engineers, what you want to do.
Verstappen also stated that he has set activities away from the sport that keep him “busy”: “Plus, my life is not only F1. When I’m at home I prefer not to think about F1 too much outside of my scheduled training.”
“There are a lot of things going on in the background for me also, what I want to do in the future, also from the virtual [racing] side of things that I’m working on, so I’m busy enough at home.”
Also speaking at the launch, teammate Sergio Perez spoke of his aims for a better year after a tough 2023. The Mexican went on to call the Red Bull CEO and Team Principal “key” to its future: “We just want to go racing; we are a race team. We want the whole team to stay together because we’ve been so successful.”
“It will be ideal just to keep the whole thing together and just focus on racing…We know that Christian is a key player in our organisation.”
“It’s important that all of us focus on what we need to do. What we need to do is to win championships and bring the team as forward as possible. And that has to be the target for all of us in this organisation.”
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool/Getty Images
