Piquet Jr backtracks on Mercedes-Verstappen claim

Jul.22 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s future remains under intense scrutiny ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP, as performance concerns and political turmoil swirl around the team following Christian Horner’s shock mid-season sacking.

Nelson Piquet Jr – former F1 driver, son of triple world champion Nelson Piquet, and brother of Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly – had stirred headlines by implying Verstappen had already signed with Mercedes.

But he is now backing down.

“That’s just a place where people go on holiday,” Piquet Jr said on the Pelas Pistas podcast, referring to reports that Verstappen and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff moored their yachts side-by-side in Sardinia last week.

“Max just wants to be where he thinks he can win. Does money play a role? Of course, but the most important factor is that he wants to be in a good car.

“The only two choices he has are Red Bull and Mercedes,” he continued. “At McLaren, both drivers win, so yeah…”

As for the Horner firing, he added: “Maybe they sent Horner away to get him (Max) to stay, I don’t know. Maybe he’s already signed, but maybe he’s also already said no.”

Verstappen is reportedly set to decide his future by the end of August. Despite a long-term contract, Red Bull is not expected to block his departure, exit clauses or not.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, never shy in his criticism of Horner, told TSN: “Maybe the timing is a surprise, but not the outcome. There’s been a lot of turmoil and tension over the last few years. It seems to have gotten worse.”

Brown added: “Given his age and his background in motorsport, I’d be surprised if he (Horner) didn’t reappear somewhere in the industry. But maybe he could be interested in managing a football team or something else.”

The Sun newspaper reports widespread unrest inside Red Bull, suggesting Horner allies may be behind the leaks. One employee said: “It was only a day after Christian was sacked and a lot of the team were still upset when Mr (Helmut) Marko addressed us. But he just made a joke of it and told us to cheer up – he said, ‘You need to smile more’.

“It didn’t endear him to anyone.”

New Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, seen as part of the most recent Austria-based power shift with Marko in the post-Dietrich Mateschitz era, also drew criticism. “Mintzlaff also said, ‘If you have any problems, just text your line manager’,” a staffer told the tabloid.

Family friends close to Horner, rumoured to be sources of upcoming further leaks, say the long-serving team boss was blindsided. “He thought he’d been called in to speak about another issue,” one said, referring to his sacking in a London hotel.

“He was just told, ‘You have to be there’ and was dumbfounded when he was ushered into a room and effectively sacked on the spot.”

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