Verstappen: Brown trying to "stir things up" with Newey/Red Bull F1 comment

Brown stated that he had seen an increase in applications from those currently employed by Red Bull in the wake of the allegations and power struggle surrounding both team principal Christian Horner, and between the Austrian and Thai shareholders of the parent Red Bull company

Horner refuted those comments, stating that it was “inevitable” that other teams wished to capitalise on the situation.

Verstappen agreed with his team principal, noting that Red Bull’s successes had made many of its staff targets for other teams seeking to improve their own fortunes in F1.

“He obviously wants to stir things up. For us as a team we can’t do anything with comments like that,” Verstappen said.

“From his point of view, I understand it of course, because everyone is trying to attract our people and that is completely normal in the world of Formula 1 as well.

“But I’m not really interested in those things either. I see the headlines, but I don’t even click on them.”

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, chats with Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, on the grid

Verstappen added that many of Red Bull’s key staff were subject to long-term contracts with the Milton Keynes squad, although admitted that there were “human aspects” that had to be taken into account.

The Dutch driver is contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028, but has been targeted by Mercedes as a potential replacement for the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton in the event that Verstappen becomes dissatisfied at Red Bull.

He felt that he was in a similar position to those at Red Bull bound by long-term deals, and that those contracts were not a “100%” guarantee that people would stay on if they were not happy.

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“In life you can never guarantee everything. It’s also possible that I won’t wake up tomorrow morning, so in the end you never know things 100 percent for sure in life anyway,” he said.

“A lot of agreements are made, but in the end it’s also about everyone being happy with their work and feeling appreciated within the team. There are a lot of human aspects involved as well.”