Amidst the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, the ‘Christian Horner’ soap opera continued at the Red Bull camp, as he walked hand-in-hand with wife Geri Halliwell and walked out with a bust-up with Jos Verstappen. Fast forward to today; it’s another race week right before the Saudi Arabian GP and another episode of the ‘soap opera’.
However, in this week’s episode, Christian Horner has turned into a commentator to summarize the previous events of his soap opera.
Christian Horner breaks silence on his Red Bull controversy
On Thursday, 7th of March, Christian Horner, the Red Bull scandal-hit Team Principal, has spilled on his ‘much-needed-to-be-heard’ words on his ongoing drama at Red Bull, which just played out the suspension of his ‘sexting’ accuser.
In the pre-race interview of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he was asked whether he regrets the potential damage that his controversy is causing to Red Bull. To this, he replied by saying “Obviously, there’s been an awful lot of coverage surrounding this, but one has to go back to the basis of a grievance was raised. It was fully investigated, and it was dismissed. And from there, we move onwards.”
Emphasizing on the event, he added, “I think an awful lot has been made out of this. Obviously, it has been of great interest in different elements of the media for different reasons.”
“I think the time now is to look forward and to draw a line under it”, he told.
“We’re here to go racing. We are here as a Formula 1 team.”
“And the time now is to focus on what is going on track and the performance of the cars and the drivers, and where the spotlight should be during the course of a Grand Prix weekend”, he continued.
Expressing his next steps for the issue, he concluded, by adding “As far as I’m concerned, as far as Red Bull is concerned, we move on, and we look to the future.”
Horner’s ‘positive’ words come after having a ‘toxic’ bust-up with Max Verstappen’s dad at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which has thrown the F1 champ’s future with Red Bull in the air.
Christian Horner confident Max Verstappen will complete his 2028 deal
In the same interview, Christian Horner expressed his confidence on Max Verstappen staying at Red Bull till his contract runs out in 2028- completely ‘kicking out’ the rumors of the Dutch speedster leaving the Milton-Keynes squad.
When asked about Verstappen’s future, he replied by saying “I’m certain he will [see out the remainder of his contract].”
“He has got a great team around him; he’s got great faith in that team. We’ve achieved a lot together. He’s committed to an agreement to 2028”, he told, pointing out Verstappen’s contract.
“From the team’s side, from Max’s side, we are determined to build on the success we’ve achieved already. Those 55 victories have all come in Red Bull cars, all of the podiums have come in Red Bull racing cars.”
“We are determined to build on that and hopefully add many more in the future”, he concluded, by quoting this one-liner.
Christian Horner is currently with the Red Bull camp in Jeddah, as the team is gearing up for the Saudi Arabian GP on 9th March.
Can Red Bull and Horner really move on from this and look forward? Will Verstappen really see out his contract till 2028? Or will this drama drive the reigning F1 champion out of the Austrian team? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
