The embattled boss of the Red Bull Formula 1 team is facing fresh calls to stand down, despite being cleared of inappropriate conduct towards a female employee.
Christian Horner was exonerated by an independent Red Bull investigation last week, but WhatsApp messages and images that he allegedly exchanged with his accuser were then leaked to the press. The messages, emailed from an anonymous account, were also sent to key F1 figures including FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and the nine other team principals.
Horner has refused to say if the leaked messages are genuine and his legal team has threatened to take action against anyone who publishes them.
With his Red Bull team dominating Saturday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, and his wife, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, offering her full public support, Horner “might have hoped to have turned the corner”, said The Telegraph. But then the father of his star driver Max Verstappen made an explosive statement.
‘Danger of being torn apart’
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jos Verstappen said there would be “tension” at Red Bull while Horner remains in his position. “The team is in danger of being torn apart,” the 51-year-old former racing driver said. “It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim when he is the one causing the problems.”
Horner and Red Bull were said to have been “stunned” by his comments, “which appeared to suggest Horner’s position was untenable”, said The Times. Insiders told the paper that the two men had engaged in a series of discussions over the weekend, one of which was “particularly heated”.
Horner has insisted that he is “absolutely” confident that he will remain in his role for the season. “There was a full, lengthy internal process that was completed by an independent KC,” he said after the Bahrain GP. “And the grievance that was raised was dismissed. End of. Move on.”
What next for Horner?
Jos Verstappen’s intervention is “potentially significant”, because his son, whom he also manages, “wields major influence within Red Bull as a result of his success on the track”, said the BBC. The world champion gave only qualified support when asked multiple times in the lead-up to the Bahrain GP whether he had full faith and confidence in Horner.
“Intrigue remained on how much of an input his son had on Jos’ astonishing comments and where he stood as two key figures in his life are at odds,” said the Daily Express.
Max Verstappen, who is due to appear before the media in Jeddah on Wednesday, has reportedly been asked by Ben Sulayem, the president of F1’s governing body the FIA, to back Horner publicly. But the driver is, for now at least, “seemingly staying out of any potential feud”, said the paper.
In a “further blow” to Red Bull, said the Daily Mail, Jos Verstappen was seen on Saturday conversing with Toto Wolff, boss of rivals Mercedes, “a sign that a possible move could be being considered”. Wolff needs a new driver for next season, after Lewis Hamilton announced his defection to Ferrari, and has been “among fierce critics of Red Bull’s parent company’s handling of the investigation”.
This matters because Max Verstappen is, “apart from the car”, Red Bull’s “most valuable asset”, said The Telegraph.
Horner’s fate will ultimately rest with Red Bull’s owners. Chalerm Yoovidhya, part of the Thai dynasty that owns 51% of Red Bull GmbH, posed for pictures with Horner on the grid in Bahrain in a very public “show of unity”, said The Times, and is “seen as a key ally for Horner”.
But Mark Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire who owns the other 49% of the drinks company, is “understood to be more concerned about the impact of the episode which has engulfed Formula One”.
“Even by the merry-go-round world of F1,” said the paper, “this is all too dizzy-making.”