The Bahrain Grand Prix, which kicks off the new season this week, is overshadowed by an ongoing inquiry into the leader of Formula One’s champion team.
It has been three weeks since Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was announced to be under investigation for alleged wrongdoing against a team employee. There is no set schedule for making a decision about his future.
Senior F1 executives like Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and McLaren counterpart Zak Brown have urged the team’s parent company to handle the inquiry, which is being conducted by an external lawyer, transparently.
In a letter to the team, Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley insisted on a resolution, stating that Ford was “frustrated by the lack of full transparency surrounding this matter.” Ford will become Red Bull’s engine supplier in 2026.
On February 5, the Red Bull drinks business announced that it was investigating Horner but did not provide any other information. Horner denies misconduct and has not been suspended from his position. He has remained the face of the F1 team, declaring “business as usual.”
Horner has headed Red Bull since the team’s F1 debut in 2005, and he was significantly more apparent at the car launch than three-time defending champion Max Verstappen or teammate Sergio Perez. Horner spent three days of preseason testing in Bahrain last week.
“For everyone, it’s nice, of course, when things are resolved,” Verstappen remarked during testing on Friday.
On the track, Red Bull appears to be the team to beat after winning all but one race this season. Verstappen concluded with a record 19 victories. While most teams appear to have used the 2023 Red Bull as inspiration for their new cars, Red Bull has developed a compact sidepod form that Mercedes previously attempted with limited success.
Red Bull dominated the three days of testing, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc set the fastest laps on the second and third days. Testing times are often regarded as poor predictors of race results.
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