Watch: Jos Verstappen grilled over Christian Horner exit by Nico Rosberg
Verstappen Snr, father of four-time world champion Max Verstappen, was somewhat ambushed by the Sky Sports duo of Martin Brundle and Rosberg during the famous gridwalk.
Initially moving to speak with former McLaren and Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen, Brundle and Rosberg quickly spotted the looming figure of Verstappen standing alongside him.
After briefly greeting Kovalainen, Brundle immediately turned his attention to Verstappen to address the elephant in the Red Bull garage following Horner's sudden exit two weeks ago.
'All change in the team?' asked Brundle, to which Verstappen looked surprised to hear.
Verstappen responded: 'Well they decided to change so I'm fine with everything. Normal work.'
Verstappen had been Horner's biggest critic after speaking out on several occasions, following the sexting scandal that emerged last year. Horner fell out badly with the father of his star driver and also with Helmut Marko, the Austrian motorsport adviser and confidant of late Red Bull co-owner and founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, Verstappen publicly called for Horner to go, saying that the team could 'not go on the way it was', and adding that it would 'explode' such was the tension.
Perhaps with this in mind, Rosberg immediately jumped in to press Verstappen further.
'Last year you said Horner needs to go because he's going to destroy the team?' the 2016 F1 world champion asked.
Verstappen bristled in response: 'Yeah but that was one-and-a-half years ago. It's different. I have nothing to say so it's fine.'
'You're quiet now?' responded Rosberg, before smirking to the camera as Verstappen replied 'I'm always quiet'.
Jos Verstappen on Christian Horner's Red Bull exit 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/ZGw7UsKLws
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 27, 2025
It is the first time that Verstappen has publicly addressed Horner's exit since the senior Red Bull management intervened to remove the team principal from his roles after the British Grand Prix. Those figures, including Marko and Oliver Mintzlaff, the managing director of Red Bull GmbH, have refused to speak this weekend in Belgium beyond the former confirming that any suggestions the Verstappens were behind Horner's dismissal were 'complete nonsense'.
Horner denied the accusations against him throughout the two investigations and his wife, the former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, stood by him.
He was subsequently cleared by a second investigation last summer following an appeal from the complainant. But he and Verstappen Snr remained at loggerheads and the tension when the latter attended races was palpable. The two were seen having a heated conversation following Verstappen's fifth place at Silverstone earlier this month.
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