Three weeks after the news released by the Telegraph of an independent investigation launched by Red Bull into Christian Horner, a decisive turning point seems to have arrived.
By the time Formula 1 testing began, there was still no official outcome in the investigation against Horner. He was present during testing together with Helmut Marko, whom he had several conversations with in plain sight.
As is known, a staff member of the Austro-British team had made internal accusations against Horner’s ‘attitudes’.
This led to an independent investigation by an external lawyer – confirmed by the company on February 5th. In the background of this affair, the contours of which are not officially known, there is talk of a power struggle that began some time ago for the leadership.
In the meantime, Helmut Marko spoke about the Horner issue for the first time on the eve of the tests. He simply replied: “This is an internal investigation. The sooner we arrive at a result, the better.”
A very lukewarm attitude, if nothing else, of little protection towards the Englishman, as well as Verstappen’s subsequent words. Ten days ago, the Telegraph also published further heavy updates on the matter.
A few days later, in sequence, Liberty Media, FIA, and last but not least, Ford commented. The latter underlined the need for a rapid solution, highlighting the high standards of integrity required and calling for greater transparency.
It is clear that all the parties involved indirectly, as the story continues, fear a strong fallout in terms of image with the start of the championship.
In this regard, rival team bosses have commented. The were words from Toto Wolff Zack Brown (in the presence of a silent Horner) in the press conference during testing.
Christian Horner, thanks to the theoretical support of the team’s Thai ownership, which holds 51% of shares, has consistently rejected the accusations. Horner has even labelled them “a distraction.”
However, according to circulated in the paddock last week, Red Bull is preparing for a possible replacement. The hypothetical new arrival would need to be ready by the time the upcoming race weekend starts.
It is said that the Austrian outfit has preliminarily contacted some former team principals.
However, since Horner is a difficult figure to replace in terms of influence and experience, a likely scenario would involve roles being split.
This would involve the promotion of someone who represents a strong continuity. A name widely mentioned is Jonathan Wheatley, who would become ‘Race manager director’. He would be paired with another profile, preferably closely linked to the Red Bull world.
Formu1a.uno previously predicted the build-up to the season opener would be crucial for this investigation. In our recent live stream, we anticipated how last weekend was critical for this story to conclude.
Today, the news was revealed that the investigation is over, as confirmed a short while ago also to Formu1a.uno.
As anticipated by Sky Sports UK, an official statement is expected by the start of the Bahrain weekend. It must be remembered the race weekend begins on Thursday, owing to the Sunday Grand Prix.
Author: Giuliano Duchessa
Co Author: Piergiuseppe Donadoni
