JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Max Verstappen has stayed away from discussing his father's pointed criticism of Red Bull boss Christian Horner, but said he does not see a day he races in Formula One without his dad by his side.
Verstappen, 26, also downplayed a potential move to Mercedes in 2025 in what has become a secondary storyline to the rift between his father and team boss, insisting he intends to see out his current contract with Red Bull through to 2028 so long as "the performance is there".
It has been a remarkable week for reigning world champions Red Bull -- last week, Horner was cleared by parent company Red Bull GmbH in a misconduct investigation, raised by a complaint from a female F1 team employee.
A few days later Verstappen won the opening race at a canter but his father, Jos -- a former F1 driver himself, stole the headlines in the hours afterwards, saying the team would "explode" if Horner stayed in charge.
Horner had been seen having an argument with Verstappen Sr. on Friday night before the Bahrain Grand Prix.
When asked specifically if he agreed with his dad's comments that the team could "explode" with Horner there, Verstappen told reporters: "I don't know, I hope not!
"It shouldn't. It's a strong company, it's a strong team, a lot of strong team members, so normally not."
Verstappen was then asked if he could stay at the team with Horner there, he replied: "Well we are [together] at the moment".
Over the past few weeks there has been growing talk within the F1 paddock about whether Verstappen needs to make a break from the influence of his father, who has been a near-permanent fixture of Red Bull's hospitality unit and garage since his son joined the team in 2016. On that, he was unequivocal.
"I don't see myself in F1 without them by my side for sure," he said about his father and long-serving manager Raymond Vermeulen. "I have not asked him [about the comments], but my dad is very outspoken and he is not a liar, that is for sure.
"My dad and I are very close. We call every day."
Verstappen Sr is not scheduled to be at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend. Recently, the 52-year-old insinuated in an interview with Dutch media his son could leave Red Bull should Horner stay.
Max Verstappen said: "Things must go really crazy, I guess, but that's not the target for everyone."
In his own press session, Lewis Hamilton was asked about the difficulties of racing with a parent professionally linked. Hamilton was managed by his father Anthony throughout his racing career until 2010, when the pair acrimoniously split.
The pair are now on much better terms, but they no longer have a business relationship.
Asked how difficult it is to manage that kind of relationship, in view of the Verstappen situation, Hamilton said: "I think it is a very thin line to walk. I think it also depends on your relationship with your parent, and you meet some people who have great relationships and have been amazing parents and then you have got people that have had bad relationships, and it's not necessarily parents that have been good to them.
"I don't know about his relationship, obviously you hear things here and there, but Max is a grown man, he's a champion and he can make his own decisions.
"But I think in our world as drivers, it is very easy to be misled by people whispering in your ear, and perhaps not guiding you always the right way. I've experienced it when you sometimes don't have the right guidance around you, it leads to you either making the wrong decisions or not being able to perhaps be the best at what you do. But that's obviously not the case there because he is performing well.
"But it's very difficult because you want your parent to be your parent and have a good relationship, but when business is involved it makes it really difficult."
Mercedes has not yet found a replacement for Lewis Hamilton ahead of his move to Ferrari next year.
Shortly after beating Hamilton to his first title in 2021, Verstappen signed a long-term deal with Red Bull.
"That has always been the intention of signing, that's why we signed so long to be here," Max Verstappen said about staying at Red Bull. "And of course it's about the performance of the car, and of course from 2026 onwards anyway, that is a bit of a question mark with new regulations, but I knew that when I signed my contract. But I also know what they have done for me in my career.
"The intention is of course, absolutely, to stay with this team, because I really enjoy it and I'm really happy within the team, and as long as we perform, there is no reason to leave.
When asked if he could ever envisage a day being at Mercedes, he smiled and said: "Well the thing is, no-one would ever have realised or seen that Lewis would move to Ferrari.
"In my life, that's not related to F1 or whatever, it's just general life, you never know what happens or what comes to you or whatever happens around you, or what might influence you.
"So you can never say 100% that's how it's going to be. I approach my life like that, but I also don't think about it that much. I'm very relaxed, like I said I'm very happy at the team. The performance is there, there is no reason to leave."
Verstappen will look to make it two wins from two races at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 9.