Max Verstappen breaks silence on Bahrain row between his manager and Helmut Marko

Max Verstappen has downplayed reports of a ‘row’ between his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko following the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

After a disappointing race in Bahrain, Sky Sports analyst Ted Kravitz saw Vermeulen and Marko talking in the paddock.

Kravitz noted that Vermeulen gave Marko “a piece of his mind” in a heated exchange.

Verstappen had just finished sixth in Bahrain, overtaking Alpine’s Pierre Gasly on the final lap.

Two slow pit stops compromised Verstappen’s race, which was thought to be the source of Vermeulen’s frustration.

It was also revealed that a ‘crisis meeting’ took place, with Christian Horner and Pierre Wache involved with Verstappen, Marko and Vermeulen.

Speaking at the FIA press conference on Thursday, Verstappen spoke for the first time about the discussion between Vermeulen and Marko.

“I think to my knowledge they were having just a conversation about everything which I think is allowed,” Verstappen said.

“Now, if someone picks up on it people can always see it in their own way, right? The way people are discussing things. I think we were all left frustrated with the result and the things that went wrong in the race.

“I think that’s where my manager Raymond and Helmut spoke about it and even Christian came along as well so they all had a conversation. I think that should be allowed. We all care at the end of the day.

“We care about the team. We care about the people. We care about results. I think that’s quite normal.”

Max Verstappen on 2025 F1 title hopes

Despite Red Bull’s struggles, Verstappen is just eight points behind Lando Norris, who leads the championship.

Verstappen is hopeful that Red Bull are closer to the pace they showed at Suzuka, where he managed to take pole and win the race, with the high-speed corners of Jeddah potentially suiting the RB21 more.

“I am not thinking about that,” Verstappen said. “I just go race by race. Like I said, hopefully it will be better than Bahrain. If we can be a bit in the middle of the two [with Japan] we can already be happy with that and we just move on. The rest is out of my hands anyway.

“I think at the moment we are not the quickest so naturally it’s very tough to fight for a championship but it’s still a very long road. We were sitting around this time last year - round five - and it was all looking great.

“And then we all know how the season ended up. I am hopeful that we can still improve things and we will see what we get.”