What would have been first?
The chicken or the egg?
Was the complaint by a
Red Bull
employee against
Christian Horner
for “inappropriate conduct” the straw that was needed to turn the spotlight on the head of the team that dominates this era of Formula
1
or did it become the perfect excuse for Will
the
ferocious internal conflicts
from the bowels of hell explode in public?
The concrete thing is that since this scandalous
affair
at Red Bull was uncovered at the beginning of February,
the domino effect of this free-for-all is very strong
.
Horner denied the allegations.
Max
Verstappen
looked more serious than usual.
Toto Wolff
, Christian's nemesis, took advantage and threw darts: “We defend inclusion, equality, equity, diversity.
And it's not just about talking but about living it day by day."
Jos, Mad Max
's father
, launched in the press: “
He is playing the victim when he is the one causing the problems.
If he continues (by Horner), the team is going to explode.”
And he spoke heatedly with him at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Christian arrived hand in hand with his wife
Geri Halliwell
, with whom the British yellow press had a picnic.
Horner was relieved when the employee's complaint was dismissed, and she was ultimately
suspended from her job
.
Sports advisor
Helmut Marko
was accused of having leaked everything, he denied it and found himself in the crosshairs.
“If Helmut leaves, Max leaves
,” was heard in the
Red Bull
box .
And to make matters worse, there is now talk of an internal dispute between the majority shareholders of the energy drinks company, of Thai origin, with the minority shareholders of Austrian origin.
Luckily, Verstappen and
Sergio Pérez
gave the team a “1-2” in Sakhir and Jeddah, where the power of their cars proved unattainable for the rest of mortals... and
irons
.
So much so that at the beginning of its twentieth season in Formula 1, Red Bull has accumulated
six constructors' championships
and reached
115 victories
in Saudi Arabia .
Not only did he pass Williams by one to climb to fourth place, but this year
he will surpass the third place of Mercedes
, which awaits the inevitable with 125 wins.
Paradox of these times: the image carefully built over years with results, communication policy, design of excellence and drivers with balls
is shattered in days
when a gear gets stuck and reveals that in reality not only was there a lack of lubricant but a real union.
Over rained, wet.
As Wolff will be left without
Lewis Hamilton , who will wear
Ferrari
red in 2025
, every time he can the 52-year-old Austrian puts in trouble to see if he breaks the Verstappen-Red Bull wedge,
linked until 2028 by contract
.
“I would love to have Max, because there is no team that wouldn't go for him,” he said.
Horner - quite
a bug
he is - responded: “It is natural that all teams have that desire to hire the best driver.
Every team would like to have Max, but
the best drivers always want to be in the best cars
.”
Max Verstappen and Christian Horner, in the Red Bull box in Jeddah. Photo AFP
The future of Max Verstappen
Until then, everything is fine.
But... “Max is an important and valuable member of the team,” he noted as if it were necessary about the three-time champion, who with 56 Grand Prix is
the third most winning driver in F1 history
.
In Jeddah he reached nine wins in a row and 36th in the last 46 races.
The talented and temperamental one is unappealable.
But the emboldened Horner wanted to speak and unleashed another cataract of speculation.
“He is a wonderful driver, but we are a team and
no individual is bigger than the team
.
This team has 1,400 people and each one has a role to play.”
And when he was asked in Saudi Arabia if he is sure that Max will fulfill his contract, at first he seemed confident, but then he said something inevitable: “It's like anything in life: you can't force someone to be in a place just for a piece of paper.
If someone doesn't want to be on this team, we're not going to force them.
That applies whether you are a mechanic, a designer or anyone in this business.”
And since this is a big sports and entertainment business, the interests are so great that the truth can be constructed
at random
, especially if rumors are planted or notes are given on purpose to make visible issues on the agenda.
Here it happened just like that, from the manual.
Several reports in the specialized press, mostly British and German, said that Marko's position
was in check
for a day in the run-up to Jeddah for making him responsible for leaks about the "Horner case."
Before the race, on the Austrian public broadcaster
ORF
, Marko rejected the accusations and suggested that
they wanted to sink him
.
“I'm happy just to have my iPhone half controlled.
I have deliberately stayed out of it.
"Associating myself with that was almost a planned and cunning operation," he said, who after meeting with the executive director of the parent company Red Bull GmbH,
Oliver Mintzlaff
, ended the
run-run
.
Christian Horner, his wife Geri Halliwell and the Thai Chalerm Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull empire. Photo AFP
Horner is on good terms with
Chalerm Yoovidhya
, the heir to Chaleo, the Thai who created Red Bull with the Austrian
Dietrich Mateschitz
.
That's why he's still in his position.
He ignored the rumors about Marko: “At 80 years old, he is still motivated by F1, which is positive.
My relationship with Helmut is not a problem.
He is always frank.
I don't really know where the rumors came from.
It is not something I have been involved in
.”
But the team leader has the field marked.
Jos Verstappen insisted at a
rally
in Belgium that “it is very important that Helmut stays in the team” and told the
Daily Mail
: “I stand in solidarity with the woman (complainant and suspended).
Christian has the support of the Thai owner, so
I think he will stay for the rest of the season
.”
Honda
, the Japanese firm that supplies engines to Red Bull, wants everything around the team to be pristine.
And
Ford
, which will join forces with the team in 2026, doesn't want
lola
either .
What's more, according to
BBC Sport
, the request for transparency from the Milton Keynes-based team reached the British Parliament, where Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor opposition, was clear: “When accusations are made, they must be taken seriously.” ”.
The work environment at Red Bull Racing is beautiful, isn't it?