13 March 2024 , 08:04
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Christian Horner still holds a "terrifying" amount of power at Red Bul l after a grievance made against him was dismissed by the company.
A female colleague filed an official complaint against Horner which was investigated last month by Red Bull GmbH. The 50-year-old continued as team principal and chief executive of the racing team throughout and is still in his post after the complaint was rejected.
That's despite bearing the brunt of other public attacks. Most notably, star driver Max Verstappen's father Jos called for Horner to be replaced and claimed the team will be "torn apart" if he remains in charge.
Meanwhile, ahead of the first race of the season in Bahrain, a folder was sent anonymously to a swathe of F1 journalists and senior figures within the sport, containing what were alleged to be screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between Horner and the colleague who made the complaint against him.
The contents of the folder have not been verified and Horner refused to comment on what he described as "anonymous speculation". Speaking about the situation, former F1 driver and team principal Christijan Albers told De Telegraaf it is "terrifying" that Horner still holds so much power at Red Bull in spite of all that has happened.
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He said: "Because by the way it's all being picked up and it's just being waved away, then you make someone on the other side extra angry. I think a lot more will surface. Then, still, [Horner has] this drive and envy to still be able to get that number one position and just chop everyone's head off."
Albers went on to downplay Horner's record and credited adviser Helmut Marko for much of Red Bull's success, adding: "If you start looking very realistically, which drivers did he put in the car and which drivers did Dr Marko put in the car?
"Looking at success. With all due respect, all success formulas come from Marko. So if you really start looking at who has a view on talent, there is absolutely no debate on that. That's just Dr Marko, who has always made the right choices."
Despite all the distractions, Red Bull have begun the season strongly again with back-to-back one-two finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. And, speaking after the Jeddah race, Horner made it clear that he is still the one in charge.
He said: "I think that there's probably too much said already by other parties. The team is the team, Max is part of the team, Helmut is part of the team - I lead this team, and everybody has a key role to play."