Horner’s Accuser To Go Public Against “Misleading” Information – [Rumour Round-up]
Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of “Rumour Round-Up” and as with the others, all the stories contained within this are to be taken with a grain of salt and haven’t been officially substantiated but are things that are being talked about in the world of F1 that may be interesting, could turn out to be true, or simply plain wrong. Without further delay, here is Rumour Roundup…
Red Bull have been at the centre of the off-track controversy surrounding Christian Horner. Red Bull may have cleared Horner of all wrong doing following the investigation that was undertaken. However, the lack of transparency has meant that there are plenty of questions being raised. With strong rumours of ongoing and new developments, the turbulence at Red Bull is expected to continue.
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I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Rumour Round-Up:
Horner’s Accuser To Go Public Against “Misleading” Information – [Rumour Round-up]
During the race in Jeddah, Christian Horner made a passionate plea to consider the matter closed in light of the investigation done by the external lawyer hired by Red Bull Racing's parent company Red Bull GMBH, which resulted in Red Bull deeming no further action was required to be taken
However, his troubles may not be over yet. There were rumours that the female employee who had accused Horner had allegedly been placed on paid suspension
As per Motorsport Total, this employee isn’t happy with the investigation and it’s results and is preparing to come public with her allegations in the coming weeks
Supposedly, the primary reason behind this is to air her side of the story and to seemingly set the record straight
If this does happen, many experts both inside and outside the sport believe that Horner will be forced to resign. But given all that’s happened until this point and him still holding his position, it remains to be seen if there would be anything that could change his current situation at the team
One of the most surprising rumours in this regard is the supposed involvement of Grammy winning band U2 who are allegedly planning to release a song calling Horner out as reported by F1-insider
While many believe that this is too far fetched to turn out to be true, very few expected the 2024 season to start this way.
The only constant has been Max Verstappen and Red Bull being unbeatable on the track
However, things are seemingly in turmoil behind the scenes at Red Bull
There were suggestions last week that Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko was the source of the leaks that supposedly revealed the private chats between Horner and the Red Bull employee in question
Marko reacted to these claims to ORF
“I deliberately stayed out of it. To associate me with it was almost like a planned operation, as I realised. ‘Cunning’, as [Niki] Lauda would say.”
Many read between the lines of these comments as Marko suggesting that this is a result of the power struggle taking place within Red Bull
All this turmoil has further led to discussions regarding Max Verstappen’s future with some feeling that the only reason he is staying is because Red Bull currently have the best car and that he won’t see out his current contract that runs until 2028
Max gave his views on the ongoing drama while speaking to the press in Jeddah
“From my side, what I want – and that doesn’t matter who’s involved in the team or not – is to have, of course, a quiet environment where everyone is happy to work”
“Of course, ideally, as a team, you wouldn’t like to have these kinds of moments”
Along with Marko, Max’s father Jos Verstappen is being rumoured as one of the biggest proponents of Horner being sacked
Max further revealed which side he would choose if he had to
“It doesn’t matter, being on one side or the other side. As a son of my dad, it’d be weird to be on a different side”
The reality is, there is only a select few that know the full story, and until and if the truth sees the light of day, all that’s being thrown around can only really be considered speculation at best.
Will Christian Horner still be Red Bull team principal this time next year?