Max Verstappen addresses concerns of Red Bull's internal investigation against Christian Horner destabilizing the team

Max Verstappen is hoping the internal Red Bull investigation against Christian Horner is resolved soon. Speaking in the press conference at the preseason test in Bahrain, the Dutchman felt he did not have much liberty to talk about the topic.

At the launch of the Red Bull RB20, Verstappen tried to maintain the team’s script of playing it as though it was business as usual. However, with the investigation looming over the team and grabbing F1 headlines, the Dutchman clarified that his relationship with Horner remained the same.

Speaking for the second time on the subject this month, the triple world champion hoped for the matter to be resolved and claimed to be focused on the job at hand.

Asked how keen he was to see the investigation resolved as it created a distraction, Max Verstappen told Sportskeeda:

“I mean, in terms of talking about that, it's not that suddenly sitting here, you know, that I can speak about things. So it's better that you know, I just focus on my own performance because that's already a day job, you know.

"But I guess, of course, for everyone, it's nice, of course, when things are resolved. But that's the only thing that I can say about that, you know. Everyone who is here, you know, they are all focusing on the performance of the car as they should everyone knows their role and everyone is very focused on trying to make the whole package faster.”

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Max Verstappen feels the RB20 is better than the RB19 and has more potential

Max Verstappen believes Red Bull would have done a bad job if the RB20 was not better than the RB19. However, the Dutchman played down the improvements on his car, suggesting that most of the teams had improved cars in comparison to last year. He felt that the car had more potential but it was up to the drivers to unlock it.

According to fellow drivers, Verstappen could be dominant again and clinch a title in 2024. However, the Dutchman and Red Bull have tried downplaying their performance at the preseason test.

Their immediate rivals Mercedes and Ferrari seemed to have a bit of a struggle with tyres but looked comfortable compared to 2023. The Dutchman completed a total of 143 laps on the first day of the test and a total of 66 laps on the final day, completing his one-and-a-half day’s stint of the preseason test.

The reigning champion claimed that Red Bull were successful in completing their entire test program smoothly. Asked if the current car was better than its predecessor as suggested by many drivers who think he will be world champion again, Verstappen said, via the aforementioned source:

“If it would have been worse then we did a very bad job so I know for sure the car is better than last year's car but I think everyone on the grid has a better car than last year.”

Asked if his initial day of testing could have been better, Max Verstappen replied:

“No, I think overall it's been a very good first day, I mean I couldn't really wish for for more. I was actually wishing for less laps. But now I did a lot of laps, everything went well. the balance was very nice. We tried quite a few things on the car also for me. You know to understand moving forward and yeah completed the whole program without any problems. So for me that was a yeah, really everything, a really good day.”

Asked if the RB20 had more potential to it, the Dutchman said:

“Well, the team believes that with how the car is at the moment, that there is more potential to find. I guess and so that's now up to us to unlock.”