Jos Verstappen Suspects Threat to Life Amid Fight With Christian Horner

The Jos Verstappen-Christian Horner tussle continues to unfold new subplots in Austria. Verstappen Sr. pulled out of the Legends Parade on Friday, wherein he was going to drive the Red Bull RB8 around the Spielberg track. This was reportedly due to Horner inquiring about the Dutchman’s inclusion. Jos Verstappen was quite candid about the entire situation, expressing his discontent against Horner. Now, there is a revelation from him about a possible threat to his life as well in this saga.

According to F1 Maximaal, the former Benetton driver stated in a conversation with Viaplay, “What I heard is that he did everything to stop it and that I had to watch out if that thing also had to brake”.

Max Verstappen is on pole for the Austrian GP sprint race, but it’s his father Jos Verstappen’s dispute with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner that’s caused the biggest stir in the paddock.@SMitchellF1 explains ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/sdXOA1LOfR

— The Race (@wearetherace) June 28, 2024

Verstappen Sr. citing how Horner could have possibly induced a braking malfunction in the RB8 car he was going to drive is quite a serious accusation. The Dutchman added how it is quite a “serious” threat to hear.

He said, “I think this is very punishing. Then you can’t say: how should I deal with that when you hear this? This doesn’t work in his favor.”

Verstappen labeled Horner‘s stance against him driving the RB8 as “childish”. It was quite surprising for Verstappen to become aware of the same indirectly as he called out the Red Bull boss for not being upfront with him.

How Jos Verstappen pulled out of the Legends Run in Austria

Jos Verstappen was going to drive the 2012 Red Bull car upon the Austrian parent company’s insistence. Besides the 50-year-old, there were other legendary F1 veterans like David Coulthard, Gerhard Berger, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Johnny Herbert.

However, many reports, including Planet F1’s Thomas Maher, highlighted how Horner only inquired about Verstappen Sr’s drive. While the further details of this closed-door conversation are unknown, the reports suggest that the British boss asking about the same was enough to indicate his stance to Red Bull.

Now, Red Bull themselves did not ask Jos to pull out of the Legends Parade. The former Benetton driver heard from multiple sources about this alleged objection from Horner and made the call to withdraw himself.