Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team leader, believes there is potential for “exciting scenarios” if Christian Horner remains at Red Bull.
It’s been over two weeks since Red Bull GmbH suspended their internal investigation into Christian Horner in response to claims about his actions as Red Bull Racing’s team manager, but the repercussions from the situation has continued to generate speculation and headlines in the interim.
Toto Wolff: If Christian Horner stays, there are great possibilities.
With Horner’s apparent support from Red Bull shareholders, there appears to be little risk of the long-time team head leaving the firm despite recent difficulties.
However, the situation has not totally calmed down, with Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, pushing for Horner’s resignation and warning that if he remains in control, the team will ‘explode’.
Over the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko revealed that he could not rule himself out of being suspended while Red Bull conducts its own investigations into incidents.
It prompted Max Verstappen to express his public support for Marko, stating that without Marko’s role at Red Bull, his own involvement would be in doubt.
As things stand, Red Bull continues to employ the same people in the same positions, with the only inquiry underway being an internal process to determine the source of anonymous media leaks.
Speaking to Austrian daily OE24, Mercedes’ Toto Wolff feels Horner’s continued leadership of Red Bull could result in personnel changes at the team.
“I’m just saying: If Horner stays, there are exciting scenarios,” Wolff remarked when asked about Verstappen’s potential move to Mercedes.
“Ultimately, it is all about the Horner team. But, as I already stated, I only read about Red Bull’s internal operations in the media.”
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Wolff commented on the continuing controversies surrounding Mercedes’ rival team, saying, “From the outside, we see a lot of drama. But for a club like Red Bull, this is not ideal.”
Wolff is one of the high-profile figures who has called for greater transparency into the findings of Red Bull GmbH’s investigation into Horner, claiming that the silence has resulted in the various speculative rumours that have surrounded the F1 team ever since.
“We live in a very transparent world,” he went on to say.
“If you don’t say something, it only becomes more interesting: that leads to more questions, more stories, and more speculation.”
Wolff brought up the “important issue” of an employee going to Red Bull in Austria to express issues against Horner, asking, “Why hasn’t this been discussed yet?” In addition, there is an information strategy that appears to be a little complicated from the outside.
“I think the Austrians are professional, in England, they try to keep everything small, but that’s no longer possible these days.”
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