LONDON - Red Bull risk being torn apart as a team and will 'explode' if Christian Horner stays as principal, the Daily Mail newspaper quoted the father of triple world champion Max Verstappen as saying on Saturday.

Horner, 50, was cleared last week by an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct made by a female employee.

The inquiry dominated the pre-season and Horner has remained in the spotlight after an email from an anonymous sender, purporting to contain evidence submitted to the investigation, was distributed to media and key figures in the sport.