Christian Horner has his sights set on a promotion at Red Bull in spite of the ongoing internal struggles within the team, according to reports. The 50-year-old was recently cleared by Red Bull following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which were made by a female employee to the team’s parent company in Austria.
The accuser has since taken up the matter with the FIA after lodging a complaint to the governing body and is expected to appeal Red Bull’s decision to clear Horner of any wrongdoing. The saga has contributed to increased tensions behind the scenes, with Max Verstappen’s father Jos recently calling for Horner to be relieved of his duties.
In spite of the current situation, Horner is eyeing a promotion that would see him put in charge of Red Bull’s parent company, according to Bild. It is said that he wants the position of CEO at Red Bull GmbH, which is currently occupied by former RB Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff.
Horner is said to retain the full backing of Red Bull majority owner Chalerm Yoovidhya, who has a controlling 51 per cent stake in the company. It remains to be seen if this will aid Horner’s hopes of moving into a different role, which would see him taken away from the frontline at Red Bull Racing.
Not everybody is happy with Horner’s continued presence in the F1 paddock despite him being cleared by the investigation process, which was led by a top independent lawyer and saw him face hours of intense questioning. Ralf Schumacher, the brother of seven-time world champion Michael, recently echoed the views of Verstappen’s father by urging Horner to step down.
“What I found and still think is a shame: the Christian Horner case outshines everything,” Schumacher told Sport1. “This became particularly clear on the first weekend in Bahrain. It wasn’t until race day that there was a little talk about the sport.
“What also bothers me about the whole thing: an objective assessment is extremely difficult because there is a complete lack of transparency. It became problematic for me when he portrayed himself as a victim in Saudi Arabia. I’m sorry for his family, yes, but there was only one person who started this whole thing: him.”
Meanwhile, former Sky Sports pundit Johnny Herbert believes that Horner staying at the team will risk pushing Verstappen closer to Mercedes, who are said to be interested in his services if he becomes available.
Speaking to The Sun, Herbert said: “It’s not a good thing for F1 with the whole thing going on and the belated heat on it and they’re very close to pushing [Verstappen] out of the team. I’ve heard they are getting quite close with the deal with Mercedes.
“It seems like a stupid thing to do. Their biggest asset is not the Christian Horner show. It’s not about the Christian Horner show, it’s about the Max Verstappen show as he is the one winning all these races and championships for Red Bull.
“It would be crazy for Max to leave because of the situation. Jos [Verstappen] has said it will be very destructive and rip it apart and I think it’s gone on for far too long. In some respects, Christian should really think about it and step aside.”
