One wonders if the suspense will not be more behind the scenes than on the track this year in Formula 1. While Max Verstappen won, on Friday March 7, one more pole position for the second Grand Prix of the season, a new affair has come to disrupt the Red Bull team.
After the Austrian team’s director, Christian Horner, was cleared last week of accusations of “inappropriate behavior” made by an employee, it is the influential historical advisor Helmut Marko who is now in turmoil.
“An internal investigation has been opened by the parent company Red Bull and is targeting Helmut Marko, who is suspected of being behind the leaks to the press in the context of the Horner affair,” he told Agence France -Press (AFP) a source with knowledge of the file. Questioned by the Austrian television channel ORF, Helmut Marko himself suggested that a suspension was not excluded.
“The theoretical possibility still exists. I would say it’s hard to judge… let’s say ultimately I’ll decide for myself what I do,” he said. “This is a very complex matter. Once again, we want peace in the team. This championship will be difficult enough with 24 Grands Prix and we must concentrate on that. »
Horner accuser suspended
During the second round of the season this weekend in Saudi Arabia, the world champion team intends to continue the momentum of the inaugural race in Bahrain, where Max Verstappen won brilliantly ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez. The pole position of the Dutchman, three-time reigning world champion, and the third time of the Mexican on Friday during qualifying point to a new double for the Austrian team on Saturday in Jeddah. But it could well be overshadowed by these internal tensions.
This new development comes only twenty-four hours after the announcement of the suspension of Christian Horner’s accuser, a sanction which is a direct consequence of the investigations carried out by the firm, this same source explained to AFP on Thursday. “A complaint was made, it was looked into closely and it was dismissed. From there, we have to move on,” Christian Horner said at a press conference on Thursday.
The husband of ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, however, did not fail to return to the criticisms of Jos Verstappen, Max’s father, addressed to him just after his son’s overwhelming victory in Sakhir. The 52-year-old Dutchman, himself a former F1 driver, had claimed in the press that the Red Bull team would “explode” if Horner stayed in the job.
He spoke after the case was relaunched by the sending of an anonymous email – containing in particular WhatsApp messages allegedly written by Horner – to journalists following F1, to motorsport officials and even to competing teams .
“Helmut must stay,” says Max Verstappen
Several teams had previously denounced a lack of transparency during the internal investigation. The boss of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, called for “more transparency” in this matter, while Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, affirmed that “many questions remained unanswered”.
“I spoke to Jos [Verstappen] on Saturday after the Grand Prix. In the interest of everyone, we agreed to move on, to focus on the future,” Horner stressed on Thursday, hoping for a lull at last.
It only lasted a few hours and Helmut Marko was implicated. Because Max Verstappen, who has often linked his destiny at Red Bull to that of the former Austrian driver, to whom he is very close, was not long in coming.
“I have always said in the team, to people in high positions, that he was an important part of all my decision-making and for my future in the team, so it is very important that he stays in the team. ‘team. It’s important to stay together because I think that if we lose such a pillar, it will be a big problem for the team and for me, so Helmut must stay,” insisted the Dutchman at a press conference.
