Jos Verstappen has insisted that he had nothing to do with a cache of alleged messages from Christian Horner being sent to Formula 1 figures.
An internal Red Bull investigation last week cleared Horner of wrongdoing after a female employee of the team accused him of 'inappropriate behaviour'.
However, the following day around 10am ET, files claiming to contain Horner's messages were distributed to more than a hundred recipients across the F1 paddock, including team principals and F1 executives. These files originated from the anonymous email address, [email protected].
Amid swirling rumours surrounding the source of the leak and reports of a heated exchange between Max Verstappen's father and Horner during the Bahrain Grand Prix, Jos Verstappen has categorically refuted any involvement in the purported exposure of Red Bull Racing's CEO and team principal.
As reported by the Daily Mail in an interview with Jos, there are suspicions within the Red Bull camp that Horner believes Jos orchestrated a sustained effort to undermine him over the past few weeks.
Verstappen denies the claims, saying: "That wouldn't make sense. Why would I do that when Max is doing so well here?"
However, Verstappen was forthright in his assessment of the unfolding situation and voiced genuine concern about the potential impact on the overall dynamics within the team.
He said: "There is tension here while he remains in position,' Verstappen Snr told Mail Sport. "The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can't go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems."