Nico Rosberg responds after brutal comment to Jos Verstappen goes viral

Nico Rosberg became a big talking point of the Belgian Grand Prix after his encounter with Jos Verstappen.

In a clip which has since gone viral, Rosberg had engaged in conversation – conducted in his trademark no-nonsense style – with Jos Verstappen, which revolved around Red Bull’s decision to dismiss Christian Horner following the prior round at Silverstone.

Nico Rosberg glad to provide ‘entertainment’ in Jos Verstappen grilling

Horner was shown the exit door suddenly by Red Bull after the British Grand Prix, a challenging 18 months for their team boss of 20+ years ending with his departure.

Among the challenges faced by Horner was the deterioration of his relationship with Jos – father of Red Bull’s four-time World Champion Max Verstappen – Jos memorably claiming that the team would “explode” if Horner did not leave, following allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a fellow employee.

Horner denied all allegations and was cleared twice after internal Red Bull investigations, though the spats with Jos continued.

And at the first race for Red Bull without Horner at the helm – the Belgian Grand Prix – Rosberg gave Jos a grilling on the grid which subsequently racked up the views on social media.

Pundits have been creating a great deal of noise over how much of a part ‘Team Verstappen’ may have played in Horner’s immediate dismissal, including Sky F1’s Martin Brundle, who Rosberg was with when he hijacked the Jos conversation.

The exchange between Rosberg and Jos went as follows:

Rosberg: “Last year, you said Horner needs to go.”

Jos: “That was one and a half years ago. It’s different. I have nothing to say. It’s fine.”

Rosberg: “Now you’re quiet?”

Jos: “I’m always quiet [smiles].”

At that point, Brundle executed a quick subject change, but the topic was brought back up to Rosberg on Sky’s ‘The F1 show’ podcast.

“First of all, it’s nice to see that people appreciated our entertainment,” he said, “which is what it’s all about, isn’t it? The whole sport, that’s what it’s built on.

“Not that I do that on purpose, I just try to ask the questions that may be of interest.”

Rosberg would go on to clarify this true stance on whether he thought ‘Team Verstappen’ actually held any influence in Horner’s sacking.

“I don’t think it was the Verstappen camp being involved there in the Horner exit,” he claimed. “It just feels like, to me, that Red Bull came to the conclusion that under Horner, too many talents were leaving the team, too many of the key talents.

“And it seemed to be that you had this negative spiral that was kicking off at Red Bull in the last one and a half years.

“And that’s why the time had just come for a new era, I think, for Red Bull to reset, take more control and reset and rebuild again. And I think that’s just a decision that they made.”

More on Christian Horner and Jos Verstappen from PlanetF1.com

? Every word said in Jos Verstappen and Christian Horner’s bitter feud

? How Red Bull 2.0 began life without Christian Horner at the Belgian GP

Red Bull had remained tight-lipped on the reasoning for axing Horner in the immediate aftermath of that decision, but senior advisor Helmut Marko broke his silence on the matter when speaking with Sky Deutschland, hinting that performance was the main reason behind the move.

Red Bull sit P4 in the current Constructors’ Championship standings, 324 points behind runaway leaders McLaren.

“The decision was made by Oliver Mintzlaff,” said Marko, Mintzlaff serving as Red Bull’s CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments.

“We informed Christian Horner of this on Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race, at the same time officially thanking him for these 20 years and for these eight World Championship titles.

“This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn’t quite as good as it could have been.

“Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be significantly reduced, with the main focus being on racing.”

Mekies’ tenure as the new Red Bull Racing CEO and team boss got off to a decent start in Belgium, where Max Verstappen won the Sprint race, ahead of a P4 finish in the Grand Prix.

Read next: Martin Brundle crowns Jos Verstappen Red Bull team principal in new Horner sack claim