Red Bull and Horner lead the agenda
The issue that has dominated F1 all season shows no sign of going away, much as beleaguered Red Bull team principal Christian Horner would like to draw a line under it. On Tuesday the female employee who brought allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner was described by a family friend as angry and intimidated but determined that the truth would come out, once more putting Horner and Red Bull under focus.
Since she had her grievance dismissed, she has been suspended from her job, launched an appeal of the grievance decision made by an internal investigation and reportedly submitted a complaint to the FIA regarding a breach of the sports code of conduct, which the governing body is obliged to investigate. She is understood to have made clear her intent to take the matter to an employment tribunal should her appeal fail, which could potentially bring details of the case into the public domain.
Horner will face a barrage of questions on the subject in Japan, as will the FIA and F1. The knock-on effects are still pinballing across the paddock, not least in having brought into question the future of the world champion, Max Verstappen.
Verstappen’s future in the spotlight
Verstappen retired in Australia with brake failure but remains the clear favourite for the title this season, just as he remains the favourite target for teams circling the chaos at Red Bull. He is contracted to 2028 and has, of course, said he has no intention of leaving. Yet his father Jos has called for Horner to go and Verstappen has stated he would leave if Red Bull’s director of motorsport Helmut Marko was removed. The Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff has used this turbulence to make his aim clear, last week stating Verstappen would be the No 1 target to replace the departing Lewis Hamilton.
Wolff first tried to sign Verstappen as a teenager but lost out to Red Bull when he was unable to offer him an F1 seat. Pulling it off this time would be a coup greater than when Mercedes captured Hamilton from McLaren. The ambitious Aston Martin, who have deep pockets, have also been linked with a move on Verstappen, while question marks over the efficacy of the new Red Bull engine for 2026 has made the highly-unlikely scenario of Verstappen opting to leave the sports’ dominant team plausible at least for when the regulations change that year.
He is then the key player in a hotly-contested driver market which also includes Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, both out of contract at the end of this season, with Sebastian Vettel also hinting on Tuesday that he may seek a return to an F1 cockpit after revealing talks with Wolff.
Adrian Newey on wish lists
As the most successful designer of the modern era Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey has always been high on every team’s wish list and the furore at Red Bull has intensified efforts to lure him away. Most recently in the last month Ferrari were reported to be in advanced talks with the 65-year-old, a potential move lent credence by the fact that Newey has said that he had always wanted to design a car for the Scuderia and indeed that he had not worked with Hamilton, who will join them next season.