Will Bahrain be the scene of the epilogue of the “Horner affair” at Red Bull? The subject which has been tormenting Formula 1 for a month could find a solution on the sidelines of the first Grand Prix of the season from Thursday to Saturday, where Max Verstappen arrives as favorite.
If its triple world champion “Mad Max” is still expected to shine this year, in the Red Bull garage, the team seems to be navigating more in troubled waters, awaiting the conclusions of an internal investigation targeting its historic boss Christian Horner.
The 50-year-old Briton, married to ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, is suspected of “inappropriate behavior” – towards an employee according to the press – “allegations” which he “completely rejects”.
Very few details have leaked since the opening of the procedure announced at the beginning of February by the parent company in Austria, except that the person concerned has already been heard by a lawyer external to the company.
For his first speech in mid-February, during the presentation of the team’s new single-seater, Horner assured that he would “comply” and “fully collaborate” in the investigation.
At this stage, if no new deadline has been communicated, the promoter of the Formula One championship has already said he hopes to see “the matter clarified as soon as possible”. “I think everyone wants a conclusion as quickly as possible,” Chris Horner himself said last week, on the sidelines of the pre-season testing he attended.
Mercedes in on the action?
On the track, if there is no doubt for the competition that the Verstappen-Red Bull duo will be the reference on the grid in Bahrain, will we still see on the Gulf island the signs of a championship “more tight” at the top of the hierarchy?
On the Sakhir track, scene of the inaugural round, Ferrari was particularly quick during testing last week. Enough to reach the height of the RB20 rocket?
“According to my first impressions, Red Bull still has a good head start,” estimates Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), at the dawn of a record season of 24 Grands Prix.
Last year, the Red Bull team won 21 of the 22 GPs (including 19 for Verstappen and 2 for his teammate Sergio Pérez), with only the Scuderia briefly upsetting its hegemony, with a victory for Carlos Sainz in Singapore.
According to certain specialists and commentators, the Mercedes W15 could also have the potential to compete with Ferrari in the leading pack, behind Red Bull… Starting this weekend?
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs next weekend “will allow us to better understand the work we have accomplished so far”, tempers Toto Wolff, the boss of the German team which has bet on a “very different” from its predecessor.
“But we have an excellent basis on which to work,” assures his seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who begins his 12e and final season with Mercedes before joining Ferrari in 2025.
Grand Prix on Saturday
In the Gulf monarchy last year, at the dawn of a record-breaking season, Max Verstappen took almost everything there was to take – only the point for the fastest lap in the race escaping him.
Behind the Dutch ogre, veteran Fernando Alonso opened “his best” season in more than ten years at the wheel of his Aston Martin. Will it be the same this year?
The British team has been more discreet during testing – it should be remembered that some may hide their game during testing but, Alonso already warns, “the fight risks being close and very intense”.
As for McLaren, driven by a surge in performance since the summer of 2023, the English team simply hopes to “continue (its) momentum” and show all the power of its MCL30 from the first free practice on Thursday – and not Friday.
Indeed, for the first two GPs of the season, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the traditional Sunday race was moved to Saturday, a rare schedule in F1 in order to adapt to Ramadan, the holy month in the Muslim world.