The Formula 1 world was just surprised and amazed at Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari next year. World champion Red Bull, the dominant racing team, seemed to have moved out of the spotlight. Since Monday he has been the center of attention again, although hardly to his delight.
The initiation of an investigation against the board of the Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, and above all the information to the public after the Dutch daily newspaper “De Telegraaf” asked Red Bull GmbH to answer specific questions about the incident The Austrians are probably happy to avoid this.
The competition hopes
In just over a week, the company’s new car called the RB20 will be presented before it is taken to Bahrain for the first and last week of testing. The season starts there at the beginning of March. In such phases there is nervousness in management and among pilots: Has the lead remained? Is the competition closing in? Everyone wants to avoid even a hint of unrest.
Measured against this ideal, Red Bull is now at the epicenter of a homemade earthquake for the first time since joining Formula 1 in 2005. In any case, the competition – unspoken – associates a certain hope with the latest scandal: If we can’t beat the world champion team, will it now beat itself?
Red Bull Racing Ltd., based in Milton Keynes, is still a long way from that. But the reaction of the parent Red Bull GmbH, based in Fuschl am See in the state of Salzburg, points to a serious problem with the leading figure at the command post.
Brilliant record
The Englishman Horner, 50 years old, rose with the racing team from a ridiculed grand piano rental company to a supermodel producer. His record is brilliant: so far seven drivers’ titles and six constructors’ world championships. Under his leadership, the highly talented Sebastian Vettel developed into a four-time world champion. The Hesse left Red Bull at the end of 2014.
Horner stayed and began a second era within a few years with Max Verstappen as a potential Hamilton successor. Now he is said to have violated compliance guidelines against at least one team member. Horner rejected the accusation entirely. Meanwhile the lawyers are talking. The group has commissioned an external lawyer and speaks of an “independent investigation”.
Sönke Sievers Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 29 Hermann Renner Published/Updated: Recommendations: 9 A comment from Anno Hecker Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
The trade magazine “Auto Motor und Sport” writes that those involved will be interviewed on Friday. Regardless of the outcome, damage can no longer be avoided. Although Horner continues to run the business, a possible successor is already being discussed – probably not just in the Formula 1 forums.
This is a new situation for the industry leader. The fact that for almost 20 years hardly any unrest arose in the company’s Formula 1 business or leaked out to the outside world was due to Dietrich Mateschitz’s authority. The team owner and owner of 49 percent of the group died in autumn 2022. Things have been simmering ever since.
