While Christian Horner has communicated with the representatives of world champion driver Max Verstappen, he also needs to deal with problems that are more local given the ongoing problems that the Red Bull team principal is facing.
Given that his future as the F1 team’s team principal is still very much in doubt, Christian Horner is fighting to maintain his career at Red Bull.
Following accusations from a female employee, the 50-year-old was cleared of inappropriate behavior after an internal investigation during the lead-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix last week. But just a day after Horner was granted a reprieve, texts he was allegedly exchanging with a team member were leaked.
Even though Horner has stated that he will stay in his position after Red Bull’s one-two in the Formula 1 season opener, those leaks have only increased the scrutiny surrounding his employment. In a visible gesture of support, Horner’s wife Geri joined him in the paddock over the weekend, despite his constant denials of guilt.
However, The Sun has disclosed that Geri is ‘frustrated’ about discovering that her husband’s accuser is still employed at Red Bull and, consequently, continues to communicate with Horner. There are rumors that Geri has expressed her desire for the worker to be “out of the picture.”
“It’s absurd to try to maintain business as usual in the circumstances,” the source said to The Sun, adding that it is frustrating for everyone.
“Something has to give.”
It comes with a 19-page investigation into the Horner situation set to appear in an F1 trade magazine. For its 5,000 readers, the article will also detail the power struggle at the top of Red Bull Racing. According to sources close to Horner, the article is “full of inaccuracies.”
Additionally, Red Bull CEO Max Verstappen is struggling to maintain the support of the leading racer due to the fallout from the investigation into Horner’s behavior. Jos, the father of the three-time world champion, has spoken out about the issue and even demanded that Horner resign from his post.
“There is tension here while he (Horner) remains in position,” stated Verstappen Sr. There’s a chance the team will fall apart. Things cannot continue as they are. It’s going to blow up. Even though he is the one creating the issues, he is acting the victim.”
In an attempt to defuse the mounting tensions following those remarks, Horner met with Verstappen’s manager in Dubai on Monday in an attempt to calm growing tensions with the Verstappen camp. Raymond Vermeulen and Horner were joined in the meeting by senior Red Bull executives.
In advance of this weekend’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, F1 sources state that although Jos and his son were not present, the meeting “went well.”
Verstappen Sr. made the decision not to travel to the race in Jeddah after publicly criticizing Horner, with whom he was spotted arguing angrily in Bahrain.
The in-person meeting occurs soon after it was reported that Verstappen turned down FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s request for Verstappen to publicly support Horner. When questioned about the matter after the race on Saturday, Verstappen resisted answering questions about it.
“From my perspective, and I believe what I can see from the engineers and mechanics as well, we are completely focused on the car and the performance here over the weekend,” he stated. We continue to operate in this manner because, in my opinion, that is how things should be because it is not our business. Not that we’re all that involved in that.
“And the reason we’re here is because we get paid to perform our jobs, which we also love to do. We thus concentrate on that.”
In Bahrain, Horner emphasized that he still had the full backing of Red Bull, which included Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya, who accompanied Horner and his spouse.
“Absolutely,” he said in response to a question about his confidence in staying in his position for the duration of the season. Of course.”
“I have the support of an incredible team and everyone on that team,” he continued. “I also have the support of an incredible wife and family.” Additionally, I’m just concerned with competing, succeeding in races, and giving it my all.
The goal of the day was to get the season off to the greatest possible start. My priorities are this team, my spouse, my family, and racing.”
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