Christian Horner was right to call out Max Verstappen in Red Bull feud – but defiant words could come back to bite him

IT has been a turbulent and questionable time for under pressure Red Bull boss Christian Horner, but his decision to call out Max Verstappen was the right way to go.

The rumblings in the Verstappen camp is that the reigning world champion could quit Red Bull in the foreseeable future.

Various explanations have been offered, one being they are unhappy with Horner following the messy internal investigation.

Another is their loyalty to 80-year-old Helmut Marko, who has seen his position as Red Bull's motorsport advisor diminished by Horner's over-reaching title as team boss and CEO of Red Bull Racing.

Another suggestion doing the rounds in the paddock - and not from the Verstappens - centres on money.

It is reported that Verstappen earns around £43million a year from Red Bull Racing.

He also has a win bonus structure that is capped at a certain number of race wins.

His contract, which runs until 2028, already makes him the highest paid driver in F1, but his earning potential has a ceiling.

Whatever the reason for the discontent, Horner is at least sure that no individual is bigger than the team, including himself.

He has told Verstappen that if he doesn't want to be part of the team, he can walk, presumably joining Mercedes, whose team boss Toto Wolff said he'd do handstands if he signed the world champ.

It is difficult to see why Verstappen would want to quit Red Bull.
They have built him a car that has been unstoppable and he looks set to win the title again this season.

Mercedes meanwhile have built a succession of duds and even Lewis Hamilton has put his loyalty to one side to jump ship to Ferrari.

Last week, in these pages I urged Max Verstappen to stand up for himself and make his own choice.

But he made it clear at the Saudi Arabian GP he would not be without either his dad or manager, Raymond Vermeulen, by his side.

Horner's bullish words could now come back to bite him and the Verstappen camp will be even more determined to push through a switch to Mercedes.

Only Bear pits himself well

OLIVER BEARMAN's performance in Saudi Arabia masked what was another dull race.

The 18-year-old from Essex defied expectations to finish seventh after being called up as an 11th hour replacement for Carlos Sainz, who had emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

Bearman's heroics were great to watch - unlike the rest of the race.

The optimists keep pointing out that the rest of the pack, once you've taken Verstappen and Sergio Perez out of the equation, is quite tight.

And that much is true. There was indeed a tight battle between the cars running in 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th - all for zero points.

F1 has a problem with all of this success for Verstappen as it has all become too predictable.

It goes against the essence of American sports where it is about unpredictability.

I fear that as his winning streak continues, which it will do, it could hit the TV viewers in the US that F1's owners have tried to attract.

Ferrari Los will be someone else's gain

CARLOS SAINZ checked himself out of hospital so he could make Saturday's race - despite undergoing surgery hours earlier.

The Spanish driver is a real team player.

He will be let go by Ferrari at the end of this year to make way for Lewis Hamilton, and was clearly in pain and moving very gingerly as he walked in the paddock.

But he still showed up for work to help out young Bearman, his replacement.

Few other drivers in F1 would have done the same.

No Joshing

BRAVEST man of the week was the security guard who would not allow Anthony Joshua to join Sky F1's pre-race coverage.

Fresh from his win over Francis Ngannou, AJ was stopped from walking over a roped-off section and not allowed to speak to host Simon Lazenby until a producer intervened.

Bag of tricks

MOTOGP champion Francesco Bagnaia won the Qatar GP to get his season off to a flying start.

In an ominous warning he also said his Ducati was able to "go faster".

The two-time MotoGP champion led every lap as he got the better of Brad Binder and Jorge Martin.