Horner had previously been indirectly asked to resign by Verstappen’s father Jos because the affair surrounding the team boss’ allegedly inappropriate behavior towards an employee was putting a strain on the racing team.
Defending champion Max Verstappen is said not to have been at the meeting, nor was his father, who celebrated his 52nd birthday in Dubai on Monday. High-ranking Red Bull employees are said to have been at the meeting for this purpose. An unnamed source reported that the conversation between the Verstappen manager and Horner went well.
Power struggle at Red Bull is coming to a head
Red Bull Racing cannot calm down because of the Christian Horner case. The “Horner affair” is also the dominant topic before the upcoming Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. After the leaked chat messages from the Red Bull Racing team boss, the internal team power struggle is coming to a head.
“Team will explode”
Jos Verstappen recently told the English newspaper Daily Mail that Horner was playing the victim “while he is the one causing the problems.” The team runs the risk of being torn apart. “It can not go on like this. It will explode,” said Jos Verstappen. The statements became public after Max Verstappen’s victory in Saturday’s race in Bahrain, where the Horner affair overshadowed the start of the season.
GEPA/Daniel Goetzhaber The relationship between Jos Verstappen and Red Bull team boss Horner is broken
After the parent company Red Bull commissioned an independent lawyer to investigate, the employee’s complaint was dismissed. She accused Horner of inappropriate behavior, but the 50-year-old Red Bull Racing team boss denied it. The matter picked up speed again with the subsequent appearance of spicy emails.
New revelations
The March issue of the print magazine “BusinessF1” contains a detailed account of the affair that the team boss is said to have had with his assistant. It corroborates many of the allegations against Horner and raises doubts about the independence of the investigation that internally exonerated the Briton.
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Power struggle at Red Bull is coming to a head
It is also piquant that the Red Bull management has been aware of the matter for a long time and has already decided through the responsible managing director Oliver Mintzlaff that Horner must vacate his post.
Mintzlaff, it is said, was horrified by what he had seen and read and believed that it was not compatible with Red Bull’s values. Even the press release, which would have hidden the real reasons for the separation out of consideration for Horner, was already ready at the beginning of February. However, Horner then insisted on an investigation through his own lawyers. In the end, the support of the Thai Yoovidhya clan, which holds the majority of Red Bull GmbH, saved his job.
