‘Gave him a piece of his mind’: Red Bull garage confrontation after Max shocker
Max Verstappen had a race to forget at the Bahrain Grand Prix and his camp have blown up at Red Bull in a heated confrontation.
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Max Verstappen’s manager reportedly confronted Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko after a disappointing showing at the Bahrain Grand Prix that will do little to quell speculation the world champion could soon be driving for a different team.
A brilliant performance from Verstappen saw him claim victory in Japan last week, but he was dealt a Red Bull reality check in Bahrain as the car struggled all weekend.
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The four-time world champion finished in sixth to drop to third in the drivers’ standings, eight points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri won the race from pole position ahead of George Russell and Norris and the two Ferraris — the Aussie now trails Norris by just three points in the championship.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner did not sugar-coat the performance.
“Look, it was a bad weekend for the team, nothing went our way from the start of the race,” Horner acknowledged.
“We didn’t get off the line cleanly, and pit stops didn’t work well for us today.”
Red Bull’s 2025 car is proving an awkward customer — just ask Liam Lawson who was ruthlessly demoted to the team’s sister outfit RB after the first two races.
Verstappen was constantly taking issue with the brakes on his car in Sakhir, complaining about the car’s performance throughout the race.
The Dutchman finished on the podium in the first three races of the season but dropped behind the McLaren drivers following the result in Bahrain.
Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz revealed he had spotted Verstappen’s manager Raymond Vermeulen in a heated confrontation with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko in the team garage following the race.
In a post-race debrief you can watch in the video above, Kravitz told Sky Sports: “I’ve got to tell you a little story.
“As Max Verstappen finished the race, I was waiting around here for some team principals and Raymond Vermeulen, Max’s manager, came into the Red Bull garage gave Helmut Marko what could only be described as a right piece of his mind and was remonstrating with Helmut Marko.
“Helmut Marko was standing there and taking it, and then Raymond stormed off at the back of the back of the garage, taking his pass (paddock lanyard) off as he went.
“Clearly they are not happy.”
Verstappen is contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2028 but speculation about his future is growing every time he doesn’t finish on the podium this season as Red Bull’s dominance comes to an end.
It has been speculated Verstappen could switch teams to Aston Martin or Mercedes as soon as next season, especially given Aston Martin will have Honda engines and former Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey.
Verstappen was scathing of the car and said virtually nothing went right for him as he clawed back from being as low as 20th to finish sixth.
“The start was not good, then the pace was not good in the beginning just with tyre overheating and the balance was not where I wanted it to be,” Verstappen said.
“The first pit stop something went wrong, I had to wait and realised the problem. Then I was stuck in traffic, the hard tyres unfortunately didn’t work.
“Then we pitted again and an even worst pit stop so then I was last. Considering everything to still finish P6 given the pace we had is still a good result. There’s not much more we could have done.”
Christian Horner said: “He’s not getting any bite or feel from the pedal, and of course it’s such an important tool that gives the driver so much feedback.”
Yuki Tsunoda, in only his second run out for the Austrian outfit after replacing Liam Lawson in Suzuka last weekend, picked up his first points for Red Bull in ninth.
“I thought actually Yuki has had a very solid weekend, he qualified in the top ten, finished in the points today, he drove pretty well,” said Horner.
“He was only 12 or 14 seconds behind his teammate, so I thought Yuki’s race was actually reasonably good.”
The F1 season continues at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix next Monday at 3am AEST.
With AFP
Originally published as ‘Gave him a piece of his mind’: Red Bull garage confrontation after Max shocker
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