Jos Verstappen labels Martin Brundle 'one of those idiots' over Red Bull comments

As another contract saga erupts in the Verstappen camp, amid talks with McLaren, the father and agent to the four-time World Champ has hit back at claims that the driver and his personal team want to 'tornado' Red Bull.

The Red Bull team has been in disarray for the better part of two years, following disputes between the Verstappen camp, namely Max's father Jos, and management figures like Christian Horner.

After Horner was removed from his post and Laurent Mekies took the reins, Max Verstappen cooled talks over a huge switch to Mercedes, a move which has proved to be a divisive choice, seeing how quick their car has been in this new battery-heavy era.

However, after reigniting exit talks with Red Bull, scouting out McLaren as a possible new home, popular Formula 1 pundit Martin Brundle claimed that they 'really wanted to torpedo the management of Red Bull'.

Jos Verstappen hits back at Red Bull 'torpedo' claims

Following the departure of Horner, Helmut Marko, Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley, and Adrian Newey, chief engineer Paul Monaghan is reportedly on the way out too.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Martin Brundle took shots at Max Verstappen and his representatives, claiming that they are influential in these officials leaving the company.

"My goodness, they really wanted to torpedo the management of Red Bull, didn't they, team Verstappen, and they did that very well indeed, to start with Christian Horner," he said.

"And it just carried on from there with Adrian Newey and Dr Helmut Marko and Jonathan Wheatley and so on, and now we know Paul Monaghan's leaving.

"So I think they did a bit too good a job of wanting to move some people out of the way there at Red Bull, did team Verstappen."

However, Jos Verstappen was less than impressed with the comments, branding Brundle as an 'idiot'.

"Another idiot who thinks he knows how it is," Vertsappen said on Instagram, replying to the Brundle claims.

Verstappen senior recently spoke out about the future of his son amid retirement talk for the Dutch driver and the resignation of his number two mechanic, Ole Schack, after 22 years with Red Bull.

"Certainly, after four championships, you have achieved a lot together," he said.

"But that is up to Max. However, I think he will just continue."

The writing does appear to be on the wall for Verstappen's time at Red Bull, although it might be a difficult task to find a new home.

Lewis Hamilton's new contract extension at Ferrari alongside the flagship franchise figure Charles Leclerc means that the Rosso red seats are locked in, while Mercedes appear to be happy with championship-leader Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen's rival George Russell.

That really does only leave McLaren as an option, potentially with a swap for Oscar Piastri.

Unless a mid-pack team shows some stark improvements in the latter half of the year, Verstappen will be chasing Red Bull's engineers around to give him a competitive car, or push through a switch to papaya (we all know the Dutch like their orange...).