Max Verstappen in secret talks with FIA president over Christian Horner scandal

Red Bull’s Christian Horner has always denied any wrongdoing (Picture: Getty)

Max Verstappen and FIA president Mohammad Ben Sulayem have reportedly held secret talks over the Red Bull scandal surrounding Christian Horner.

Red Bull team principial Horner was cleared of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards a female employee following a swift internal probe but the saga is far from over after it dominated the first F1 race of the season in Bahrain this weekend.

Cameras followed Horner and his wife Geri Halliwell everywhere with claims that she is considering divorce amid alleged leaked texts and not even Red Bull securing a one-two in the opening Grand Prix of 2024 could distract from it.

Horner had a massive bust-up with Verstappen’s father in Bahrain and he has called for the 50-year-old to be sacked, with reports on Sunday suggesting that the Dutch world champion could even end up leaving Red Bull.

Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has called for the FIA to take action over the Horner scandal.

It has now been reported by the Daily Mail that the FIA president has held a private chat with Verstappen over the situation at Red Bull.

It is believed that he implored Verstappen to publicly back Horner amid the scandal and told him ‘you must back Christian’ – but the driver ‘wasn’t entirely convinced’ by the advice.

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday (Picture: Getty)

Verstappen has been quizzed about the scandal more than once but has largely avoided questions over it – preferring to focus on racing – but he did describe Horner as an ‘incredible team boss’ in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

During practice on Friday, Horner himself was summoned away from the pitwall to crisis talks with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and the FIA president.

Horner, though, insists he still has the full support of Red Bull’s owners, even after the alleged text messages between him and the employee leaked online.