Red Bull’s tremendous pace is far from being accompanied by peaceful times inside the Austrian team. the complaint that was made Christian Horner, Team Manager, By an employee, a massive internal earthquake occurred and the aftershocks are not stopping. The energy drink giant appointed an external lawyer to conduct the investigation, which lasted eight weeks, with the decision resulting in the complaint being dismissed, communicated 24 hours before the start of the season in Bahrain. However, the brief statement published by the company did not dispel the doubts floating in the paddock and the issue escalated to such an extent in Sakhir that Jos Verstappen, father of three-time champion Max, also came out with a strong statement.
“There will be tension here as long as he remains in his post,” Jose said. Without anesthesia, in a statement to the English Daily Mail. But it didn’t stop there, the Dutchman with a past as an F1 driver said: “There is a danger of the team falling apart. This cannot happen. It will explode. “He plays the victim when he’s the one causing the trouble.”
Jose’s statement, reported by the British newspaper, comes ahead of Saturday’s race that kicked off the 2024 World Cup agenda and was won by Max. Because on the night of Bahrain, after the podium ceremony, Horner and Verstappen senior, looking at those passing through the door, met in Red Bull hospitality, and the meeting ended with a hug.
Horner avoided going into details of the investigation and only came forward after an anonymous email that reached 100 accounts in which you could see a dossier of photos and WhatsApp messages that were allegedly sent by the priest to the employee., No one could vouch for the authenticity of the material that F1 team leaders, category leaders, top FIA officials and journalists with permanent accreditation received. Horner simply said that this is a lie.
In statements made to the Sky Network on whether he expected to remain in his position at the Saudi Arabia GP, the Red Bull director assured that “Yes, absolutely. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
When Max was asked about his boss, he praised: “When I look at how Christian works within the team, he has been an incredible team leader.”, So absolutely, from a performance point of view, you can’t even question it. I take care of him too. I talk to Christian a lot. And also, of course, throughout the weekend here, he has been completely committed to the team,” he said.
Horner was in Bahrain with his wife, Geri Halliwell, former member of the Spice Girls, with whom she attended the podium ceremony. He was joined by Red Bull’s largest shareholder, Thai Chaleo Yowidhya, who is worth $33.4 billion, according to Forbes. This can be translated into a show of support for the company boss.
Meanwhile, the issue did not go unnoticed by the FIA. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the body that regulates world motorsport, met with Horner and FOM (commercial ruler of the category) CEO Stefano Domenicali. The Emirati did not hide his concern about the situation and told the Financial Times: “This situation is hurting the sport on a human level.” There was no comment from F1.
Red Bull ended the issue with the hired lawyer’s decision, however, the story promises to add chapters.