Max Verstappen said he wants "a quiet, peaceful environment" as he responded to questions about his Red Bull future.
Despite their on-track success in recent years, the atmosphere behind the scenes was anything but calm at the start of the season. Boss Christian Horner has been fighting for his future amid an allegation of inappropriate behaviour and attempts from his enemies to have him removed.
Jos Verstappen, Max's father, said the team would be "torn apart" if Horner remained and publicly called for the team principal to be replaced. Long-serving adviser Helmut Marko has been more subtle, but has also been working against the Briton.
Star driver Verstappen did not come out against Horner in public, but did say his father was "not a liar" and threatened to walk away if Marko was let go. Things have calmed down in recent weeks as a truce between the belligerents continues to hold.
Toto Wolff did his best to take advantage of the situation with his public courting over Verstappen, in a bid to convince the Dutchman to join Mercedes. But the 26-year-old has not been tempted by the idea of a fresh start elsewhere.
And, speaking to reporters in Shanghai on Thursday, he made it clear he is "very happy" where he is right now. Verstappen said: "After 2021, I signed a long deal with the team. The only thing I said from the beginning was that I wanted to have a quiet, peaceful environment.
"Lately we have been talking about the car, so I am very happy about that already. That's also how it should be. And of course as long as I am happy with the team, there has never been a reason to leave."
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Verstappen has won three of the four races held so far in 2024 and may have taken victory in the other had he not been forced to retire from the Australian Grand Prix. This weekend's race in China marks the first time this year that the Sprint format has been used.
The Dutchman is a vocal opponent of the format and would prefer to see it scrapped. However, despite his personal dislike of the Sprints and the fact his team will only have a single hour of practice to prepare, Verstappen isn't concerned ahead of F1's first race in Shanghai since 2019.
He said: "With the new cars of course there will be a little bit of the unknown. Of course, it is the same for everyone. We need to have a good FP1 where we don't have to fine-tune too much on the car. That will really help. Time will tell, I'm not too worried about it."