An intrigue on the Austria-Thailand axis
Just over a week after the presentation of the Red Bull RB20 – scheduled for Thursday 15 February – the case suddenly exploded Christian Horner. The team principal of the dominating team of the last two championships as reported by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf is at the center of an internal investigation at Red Bull which has hired an external lawyer to clarify any transgressive behavior on the part of Christian Horner reported by an employee, most likely female.
Red Bull Austria has confirmed that the investigation is ongoing and that it is not appropriate to comment at this time. Second Motorsport-total Christian Horner was asked to to step back and to leave the role of team principal. The person concerned, yesterday at the F1 Commission meeting in London, categorically denied all these rumours. The timing of the leak, just as Horner was in a meeting with the other team managers and F1 leaders, may not have been a coincidence, just as the fact that the person taking the reins of this investigation should not be underestimated Red Bull Austria and not the human resources department of the Milton Keynes team.
The Dutch journalist from De Telegraaf Erik Van Haren in a video he underlined that behind this internal investigation what could be the definitive settling of scores between Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, defined as 'fire and water' to underline how much there is bad blood between the two, could be hidden. During 2023, it was Helmut Marko who ended up in the headlines, certainly not positively, after his slip up against Sergio Perez – defined as 'South American' in a derogatory sense as he was unable to concentrate sufficiently in qualifying like the Europeans Vettel and Verstappen – and Max Verstappen took the defense of the Austrian consultant.
The three-time world champion, in fact, in Qatar spoke out in favor of Marko before the Thai ownership which holds 51% of the team (the remaining 49% belongs to the 'Austrians' or the son of the late Dietrich, Marco and Red Bull Austria who now relies on CEO Oliver Mintzlaff and Helmut Marko as consultants who have renewed until 2026). According to what Van Haren reported, Verstappen essentially told Red Bull's Asian leaders that without Marko within the team then he could have left too. Ultimately from an operational point of view we must not forget that it is Helmut Marko who makes the decisions that count and not Christian Horner, probably 'jealous' of the Austrian's power, but – apparently judging from the scope of this investigation – destined to lose this power struggle against Marko. As regards Horner's hypothetical successor, the two-horse race between Pierre Waché and Jonathan Wheatley should be won by the latter to leave the former concentrated on the technical aspect without too many distractions at the wall in the role of team principal, the 'chair' more suited to Wheatley current sporting director of Red Bull (Waché is the technical director).
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