Formula 1 returns to the track from Wednesday for three days of winter testing in Bahrain, where Red Bull, the reigning champion team entangled in the “Horner affair”, will be the center of attention both on the track than outside.
Will the Gulf island, the setting for the first Grand Prix of the year on March 2, also be the scene of the verdict for the historic boss of Red Bull?
Christian Horner, expected in person on the Sakhir route, has been in turmoil since the opening of an internal investigation targeting him, announced at the beginning of February by the parent company, which has so far not provided any information concerning the facts with which he is accused.
But according to the press, the Briton, married to ex-Spice Girls Geri Halliwell, is accused of “inappropriate behavior” towards an employee, “allegations” which the person concerned “totally rejects”.
At this stage, if no decision regarding his future in the team has been communicated, the promoter of the Formula One championship said this weekend he hoped to see “the matter clarified as soon as possible”.
“There was inevitably a distraction” in the ranks of Red Bull, the 50-year-old manager admitted on Thursday during the presentation of the RB20, the team’s new single-seater, “but the team is very united and everything the world is focused on the coming season,” he assured.
Red Bull still unbeatable?
Because on a sporting level, the double reigning champion among manufacturers has a place to keep. Victorious last year in 21 of the 22 Grands Prix contested, Red Bull will try to do as well this season with its three-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.
Last year, “only Singapore escaped us, so technically we can improve, but there will logically be convergence with stable regulations (since 2022, editor’s note)”, anticipates Horner, who therefore expects to see more competition against its overpowering single-seaters.
Really ? “If we continue our pace of development from 2023 for 2024, then we can be in a strong position,” says Andrea Stella, “Team principal” of McLaren, 4th in the constructor championship in 2023. “But we will see if that will be enough to compete Red Bull and other top teams who have made improvements.”
In recent days, each team has presented the 2024 version of its car. But it is in Bahrain that we will be able to see them together on the track for the first time. Even if they will probably not yet reveal all their secrets.
The unchanged grid
The traditional winter tests will mark the debut this year of two new team directors: the Frenchman Laurent Mekies, a defector from Ferrari, who is joining Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s little sister team) and the Japanese Ayao Komatsu, new boss of Haas who replaces the very popular Guenther Steiner, who arrived in January.
Among the drivers, however, the grid will be identical to that of the previous season, a first in the history of F1 before a possible big upheaval in 2025.
Among the transfers already announced, that of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who will leave Mercedes after twelve seasons to join Ferrari.
The surprise announcement of his departure caused a thunderclap at the beginning of February, reshuffling the cards on the grid. To succeed him, several names are mentioned such as that of the double 2005-2006 champion Fernando Alonso, whose contract with Aston Martin expires at the end of 2024.
Alonso who also shared his incomprehension with regard to the “very limited” format of the tests which await him until Friday: “it’s unfair that we only have a day and a half to prepare for a championship of the world,” railed the 42-year-old Spaniard.
Indeed, the teams only have one car for two drivers, each only has a single day and a half of testing. “I don’t understand why we don’t go to Bahrain for four days, which would be two days per pilot,” asked “Nando”.
“The schedule is already “brutal” enough as it is,” retorted Sergio Pérez, “there is no time for more tests.” And for good reason: the 2024 season has a record 24 Grands Prix, a frantic pace which is weighing more and more on the teams.