Christian Horner is in hot waters with Red Bull, after a female employee accused him of inappropriate behavior. The verdict of an ongoing investigation against him may come out before the Bahrain GP, and fans eagerly await to see what happens. However, the Red Bull GmBH bosses won’t decide his fate. Instead, Thai owners will decide what to do.
According to sources, Mark Mateschitz, their owner, has complete control of operational changes within Red Bull racing. However, in his contract with the 51% Thai owners, the agreement to make alterations among the higher-ups was not specified. As a result, Mateschitz cannot sack, or give a verdict on Horner by himself.
The Thai owners have control over Horner’s future, and they are expected to give out a verdict to the Austrian company. Based on that, Red Bull Racing will take the next steps, and Horner could be shown the exit door, despite him insisting on his innocence.
Whatever, the verdict is, Red Bull has to be swift. Fans, their strategic partners, and even Formula 1 as a whole seem to be growing increasingly impatient with this long investigation.
Christian Horner’s investigation frustrating Red Bull’s stakeholders
Red Bull will be approaching the 2024 season with mixed feelings. On one hand, they are the reigning champions, and favorites to win it again. On the other hand, internal problems with their central figure – Horner – involved in the epicenter, is tarnishing their image.
Keeping this in mind, Red Bull has to speed the investigation up. Ford paused their work on Red Bull’s project, putting their $240 million deal at stake. Formula 1 too, is urging the Milton-Keynes-based team to get rid of Horner or end the saga.
General consensus among the entire F1 community is that, if Horner is guilty, he should be sacked at the very least. What happens, and whether it happens before Bahrain remains to be seen.
