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Either that or; there is something, and RedBull are desperate to keep him on, and Ford (and some other sponsors) are horrified and the negotiations are all “we don’t want our corporate image to be blurred by having him still in charge after this” sort of thing
I'd put money on this option....I reckon they're trying to find a way to keep the accuser quiet, with money and a watertight NDA.
I listened to "Beyond the Grid" and they said everyone in the paddock (including Andrew Benson at all) knows exactly what the allegations are, and it's only a matter of time before they come out fully. Also, they couldn't see how Horner can survive (or why he hasn't been suspended pending the outcome)
Yeah, I think if the answer from Red Bull at the end of the investigation is that Horner stays on, I think the story will leak, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it comes from one of the corporate sponsors unhappy at that outcome. I get the impression that RedBull are trying their hardest to keep Horner, but at the same time keep the sponsors happy, and struggling to make that happen.
my completely unevidenced and spurious theory:
Horner does some sleazy (but short of illeagal) stuff, Verstappen (defo senior, poss junior too) get wind of it, use it to settle some kind of grudge. Horner has some enemies back at RB HQ, who allow the smoke to smoulder into a fire rather than just squashing it straight away. Horner has lots of support at the RBF1 team (probably a big olde boys club) and it becomes apparent to RBHQ that if they bump horner, there'll be a stampede of talent out of the door (including newey etc), killing the golden goose. Rest of the F1 teams doing 'very concerned face' publically about the need for transparency etc, while privately making big money offers to key RBF1 players. RB HQ now don't want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away, but it might well be too late.
it’s only a matter of time before they come out fully
RB HQ now don’t want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away
Yeah, I suspect that Red Bull decided at the beginning that they'd like to try to find a way to keep Horner, and that's looking increasingly difficult to manage. It could all just fall apart around their ears
Anyway - enough about Karen Horner! 🤣
Chatter over the weekend is that Haas may not have have the slowest car on the grid - what on earth is wrong at Alpine/Renault?...
https://twitter.com/fastestpitstop/status/1761451555998327044?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
The Race disagree that the Alpine is the slowest, they rank it second slowest, ahead of Hass. Piastri must be laughing his arse off about how lucky he got. Alonso too.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/every-f1-team-ranked-after-2024-testing/
orner does some sleazy (but short of illeagal) stuff, Verstappen (defo senior, poss junior too) get wind of it, use it to settle some kind of grudge. Horner has some enemies back at RB HQ, who allow the smoke to smoulder into a fire rather than just squashing it straight away. Horner has lots of support at the RBF1 team (probably a big olde boys club) and it becomes apparent to RBHQ that if they bump horner, there’ll be a stampede of talent out of the door (including newey etc), killing the golden goose. Rest of the F1 teams doing ‘very concerned face’ publically about the need for transparency etc, while privately making big money offers to key RBF1 players. RB HQ now don’t want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away, but it might well be too late.
This almost 100%....except one of the people driving it is Helmet (with Verstappen Snr), who apparently only has a year on his contract and is very unhappy....
Also...Renault to sell up at the of the season?
The new Alpine A524 is currently the worst car on the grid.
It’s overweight, aerodynamically inefficient, slow on a single lap and in long runs.
High-ranking engineers are said to be already on their way out.
Alpine's engineers:
thols2
Full MemberYeah, selling to Andretti would seem to make sense, Alpine is an embarrassment, they just seem lost and their engine still isn’t competitive.
Yeah but Mclaren were nowhere until they bought their B-spec car last year.
If the [url= 
]leaked pics[/url] of Alpine's B-spec car for this year are real then who knows?
If the leaked pics of Alpine’s B-spec car for this year are real then who knows?
An award for being outstanding in its field?
Ploughing their own furrow, etc etc...
High-ranking engineers are said to be already on their way out.
No, they'll be attracting big names from RB, clearing cultivating a more productive environment
I don't follow the theory some of the above are suggesting that someone in the Verstappen camp is (partially, at least) trying to oust Horner. To what end? MV recently signed a long term deal and comfortably trounced the entire field last year...
Why would anyone in that position want to rock the boat so severely? 🤷
Apparently, the investigation into Horner is now over with an announcement due tomorrow or Wednesday.
I don’t follow the theory some of the above are suggesting that someone in the Verstappen camp is (partially, at least) trying to oust Horner. To what end? MV recently signed a long term deal and comfortably trounced the entire field last year…
Why would anyone in that position want to rock the boat so severely? 🤷
I didnt think it made much sense at first, then i saw who was in the frame and reasonable isn't a word you'd use to describe them.
"Why would anyone in that position want to rock the boat so severely? 🤷"
This does make total sense, but also it won't be the first time that someone greedy has done something stupid
Karen leaving work this evening!…
[img] 
[/img]
Why is Sainz played by Sean Connery lol
Now back to Karen...! 🙂
My new theory is this - the delay isn't whether he's done anything wrong or it. It's actually Horner's lawyers fighting RBF1's lawyers.
If he's found guilty of gross misconduct he could easily by let go immediately, contract wripped up and without any severance pay. He could be fighting for millions in severance, not to keep his job.
IANAL - this is pure speculation!
Lolipopman is back
The detail in that is great! 👍
My theory is that the decision has already been made, Horner may already be sat at home making new plans for the rest of the year, but RedBull are timing the news release so (they hope) it immediately disappears amongst the press whirlwind surrounding the first race.
Thepurist +1. If he was clear they would have announced immediately, they are using 24-48hrs to reorganise the F1 team for the season… …is my own speculation.
I'm not convinced....i think that if they thought it was that serious they'd have suspended him pending the result, not have him turn up for the launch and testing.
I'd love to be wrong tho....him and Lawrence Stroll both seem odious to me
[i]i think that if they thought it was that serious they’d have suspended him pending the result, not have him turn up for the launch and testing.[/]
That approach is only an idea put forward by the opposition / critics of the person being accused of something. You hear it a lot in politics with politicians being shouted at to stand down pending the enquiry into their affairs. In reality the enquiry is there to delay any decisions long enough for the public to lose interest so the whole matter can be quietly ignored.
A less jaded view is that the person is innocent until proven guilty so why should their life be adversely affected by so random accusation before any proper evaluation of the evidence and facts.
I did chuckle at the Drive To Survive episode where the Horners’ personal Santa turns up, nods at Christian and asks, “has he been a good boy this year?”—then a beat before anyone replies 😂
I wonder if that was a late edit—presumably also the end of the Mercedes episode which is signed off by Lewis saying “I can’t see myself ever being anywhere other than Mercedes”.
I just watched ep 1 of DTS, every time a woman wearing the Red Bull team uniform appeared I just couldn't stop from wondering, "Was it you he sent his dick pics to?"
My theory is that it’s more about how they take the right action without upsetting the likes of ford and other sponsors and potentially loosing Newey. I imagine ford and others would not be happy if he left and left them looking for a new chief deisnger.
Maybe they are just counting out the hush money to make it go away?
I don't think Christian will be going anywhere. There may be disciplinary action and training, possibly even some change in leadership roles (an additional person to facilitate better decision making/supervising), but I genuinely can't imagine that what he's done will warrant summary dismissal.
change in leadership roles
No wimmins in immediate vicinity of Horner? Rubbish. If there is a mysoginistic, bullying or sexual misdemeanour the message needs to be strong and that’s clear from Fords statement. Horner will need to be offered a punishment for everyone to be aware of.
Unless of course a payoff happens, in which case we can expect it to rumble into the future as leaks happen, they’ll be a lot of pressure to not sign an NDA against the victims integrity.
my bet (based on a deep cynicism for how rich and powerful men are protected by other rich and powerful ment):
he stays as team principal, but....
RBHQ parachute in some goon to replace him as chief exec.
leaves end of season/contract and waltzes off into the sunset driving a dumpertruck full of money (with ginger spice swimming in it). Newey leaves too and spends more time with his new yacht
A less jaded view is that the person is innocent until proven guilty so why should their life be adversely affected by so random accusation before any proper evaluation of the evidence and facts.
It cuts both ways though. If both are still employed, it's not unreasonable where the matter is of this level of seriousness and there's (on the face of it) some credible evidence to back-up the claim for the accused to be suspended while the investigation goes ahead. If the seniority of the accused and accuser are wildly different, then removing the more senior from the business so there can be no influence on the more junior member of staff is a wise move. I can see why sponsors are looking at the situation RB have now created (Horner at testing pretending everything is fine) and are not massively impressed.
Maybe they are just counting out the hush money to make it go away?
I think the days of forcing female staff-members who've accused their bosses of inappropriate behaviour to sign NDA and have piles of cash pushed at them to go away, are thankfully past us.
I think the days of forcing
femalestaff-members who’ve accused their bosses of inappropriate behaviour to sign NDA and have piles of cash pushed at them to go away, are thankfully past us.
Wasn't the figure of £650,000 mentioned somewhere above in this thread?
@Rich_s, no I specifically meant female members of staff who's boss's have made unwelcome advances. While I've no doubt that this does apply to male members of staff, it's been a tactic overwhelmingly applied to more junior female staff members by their overwhelmingly male senior colleagues in an effort to protect themselves who then get to carry on in-post as if nothing has happened.
If that's what's going on at RB, it would be very disappointing
I think the days of forcing female staff-members who’ve accused their bosses of inappropriate behaviour to sign NDA and have piles of cash pushed at them to go away, are thankfully past us.
If they take the cash and sign an NDA, you'll never know about it so it's impossible to know how common it is.
Wasn’t the figure of £650,000 mentioned somewhere above in this thread?
There was something about it in the machine translated Dutch article but it wasn't clear to me...could have meant Horner's lawyers offered her a bung to keep quiet, but not sure