Max Verstappen launches impassioned defence of his father amid ongoing Christian Horner scandal as world champion insists Jos is ‘not a liar’ after he called for the Red Bull chief to quit

Max Verstappen today made a passionate defense of his father Jos, telling the world: “He is not a liar.”

The triple world champion responded to Verstappen senior’s incendiary comments in Mail Sport on Sunday, in which he said Red Bull would “explode” if Christian Horner remained as team principal despite the scandal that shocked Formula One. .

Asked before Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix if his father regretted his comments, Verstappen said: “I haven’t asked him that, but my father, from what I know of karting, is very frank and is not a liar. That’s for sure. That’s what I can say about things.

‘My dad and I are very close. We call every day. On the other hand, I’m not the guy who likes to talk a lot about certain things and I just want to focus on driving. “If there are problems, we try to solve them within the team.”

Horner, 50, has vowed to stay in his £8million-a-year job after being cleared of “coercive behaviour” towards a female colleague, although his position was damaged when an extraordinary email, sent anonymously to key F1 figures, revealed that he exchanged sexually suggestive WhatsApp messages with the employee.

Jos Verstappen (right) claimed Red Bull would “explode” if Christian Horner remains in the team

It comes as the husband of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell fights for his future at Red Bull amid allegations of inappropriate behavior towards a female staff member.

Vertappen added: “I don’t see myself in F1 without my father and (coach) Raymond Vermeulen.”

Rumors circulated that Verstappen Sr. reported against Horner for some kind of vendetta. He has flatly denied it to Mail Sport.

Max said: ‘The only one who knows that is my father. People will invent and speculate and believe that he knows why he said certain things, but he is the only one who knows.

‘Social media is there to speculate and make things up and there’s not much you can do about it.

Horner and Verstappen have enjoyed three consecutive world championship victories together

“I’m not mad about it because I know what my dad is like and what he’s like.”

Verstappen did not offer such unequivocal support for Horner, although he asked for some peace to escape and allow him to continue racing.

He won the first race of the season in Bahrain and is aiming for his 19th win in 20 starts at Jeddah’s super-fast track this weekend.

He said: ‘Everyone in general, even if they have arguments or not, there are things that can be resolved. Anyway, everyone is man enough and respectful.

“I haven’t always agreed with everything that has happened – and I’m not talking about the latest – just in general in F1 and that’s where sometimes it’s good to have discussions.

“You can agree or disagree, that’s what happens in a relationship.”