Max Verstappen's manager 'stormed off' in Red Bull argument as cause for tension explained

Sky Sports F1 reporter has revealed that Raymond Vermeulen, 's manager, was riled up over the state of 's pit stops at the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the Sakhir International Circuit last weekend, Red Bull suffered an issue with the automatic lights that tell the drivers when they can pull away from their pit stalls after a successful stop. This cost both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda time, adding insult to injury on a disastrous weekend for the team.

In his post-race notebook segment, pit reporter Kravitz explained that he had witnessed Vermeulen in a tense conversation with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, although the subject of the conversation was not revealed. "At the end of the race, I was waiting around for some team principals, and Raymond Vermeulen, Max's manager, came into the Red Bull garage and gave Helmut Marko what can only be described as a piece of his mind," Kravitz reported.

"He was then remonstrating with Helmut Marko, and Helmut Marko was just standing, taking it. Raymond then stormed off at the back of the garage, taking his pass off as he went. Clearly, they are not happy."

Kravitz has now offered an insight into the source of Vermeulen's anger, going into greater depth on the exchange on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. "I've seen plenty of times where Raymond Vermeulen or Jos Verstappen and Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have been discussing situations," he said.

"But Raymond seemed particularly irked about something which I think was actually the pit stop problems. We've got short memories haven't we? Not two weeks ago, we were saying Max Verstappen is definitely back in the world championship following his fantastic performance in Japan, on pole and winning the grand prix.

"So let's be a bit careful with this. Red Bull would have known from testing [that] they weren't as quick as the McLarens and not as quick as Mercedes. There were pretty much no surprises.

"I think what the Verstappens were annoyed about, what Raymond Vermeulen was annoyed about, and Max said this as well, when everything isn't so great on the car, at least we need to have good pit stops and good operational things going on."

Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, speculation regarding Verstappen's future has intensified. While a move to Mercedes now looks unlikely, the four-time world champion has been heavily linked with Aston Martin, who have the ambition and financial might to pull off such a high-profile transfer.