Max Verstappen addressed the drama between his father and Christian Horner that re-surfaced during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

The triple World Champion’s father, former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, was supposed to participate in the Legends Parade during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Legends Parade was supposed to feature “legendary” F1 drivers driving iconic F1 cars from the past around the Red Bull Ring- the circuit where the Austrian GP took place.

Jos was supposed to drive the 2012 RB8 alongside drivers like Gerhard Berger in Michael Schumacher’s 2002 Ferrari, David Coulthard in RB1, and more.

However, Verstappen Sr backed out and wouldn’t participate in the end, as he suggested the person to blame for this was Christian Horner, who did everything he could to prevent him from attending. He told Formule1.de:

“How childish can you be? There was going to be filming, also with a drone, but Horner didn’t want me to be filmed. I’m completely finished with Horner. It’s like a playground here.”

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“I would have been allowed to drive in the end, but I backed out. I find this so childish of Horner, but I think it says something about him.”

Christian Horner responded to the claims made by Verstappen Sr, the team principal of Red Bull Racing. He said:

“Look, I’ve been made aware that… The Legends Parade is something that is organized by the circuit. There was no veto from my side or anything like that.”

Max Verstappen’s Reaction
You might expect that all the drama surrounding Max Verstappen would influence his performance, but he again showed his resilience. Following the Sprint Qualifying, he told the media at Red Bull Ring:

“It’s not nice, not for myself, not for my dad, not for Christian, not for the team. Of course, you don’t want these things to happen.”

“My dad has been quite clear about the reason behind it, and I can understand his opinion on that because he gets asked to drive the car and finds out that he’s not wanted to drive the car.”

“I’m here to focus on the performance side of things, so I want a good relationship with everyone. But this scenario could have been avoided.”