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Red Bull principal Christian Horner has urged Max Verstappen to speak his mind and not give a PR view to the media.
The driver has been very vocal about the changing landscape of F1, which has leant more and more towards entertainment. Arguably two of his biggest pet peeves have been the advent of sprint weekends and increasing number of street races.
Verstappen's two major outbursts in front of the media were during the Baku race weekend, which was the very first sprint weekend of the season. His second outburst was during the Inaugural F1 Las Vegas GP. The driver had a lot to say about how he perceived the sport to be when he was growing up and how it has changed over the years.
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While Verstappen received some blowback for his comments, Red Bull boss Horner has backed him for expressing his views. Talking to Motorsport.com, Horner said about Verstappen's comments:
"We believe in our drivers having a freedom of choice. They're not robots. They have opinions. And Max has a voice as the world champion, and we don't constrain him to give a PR view.
"He's a very honest, young guy, and he'll tell you how he sees it. And I think that's actually quite refreshing."
Red Bull boss on how Max Verstappen has changed over the years
When asked if Max Verstappen has changed over the years, the Red Bull boss said that while the driver has had some level of maturity, he's still the same guy. Touching on how the Dutchman has never liked the media, Horner said:
"I think he's changing because he's maturing a little bit. He's got a bit more facial hair these days. But no, the essence of who he is (is the same). He gets in. He drives the car, drives the wheels off it."
"He doesn't enjoy all the razzmatazz that surrounds Formula 1, but he never has. He does his job professionally. He's just an out-and-out racer and (has his) feet on the ground. And if he's not racing here, he'll be driving a GT car or racing online. He lives and breathes it."
Max Verstappen has been part of Red Bull since 2016. The three-time world champion won a record 19 of 22 races in 2023.
