Formula 1, red-hot: Christian Horner, amid rumors of dismissal from Red Bull and the fight with Toto Wolff for Max Verstappen

THE Formula 1 He doesn’t rest even when the pilots and mechanics rest. It’s the one with Max Verstappen winning the first two Great prizes of the season, making it clear that his fourth consecutive title will be a formality, the focus is on the future. The average is yes Mercedesto make an impression after the announced departure of Lewis Hamilton, sooner or later it will go for the Dutch. And the immediate focus is whether Christian Hornerwho never stops arriving at the crossroads of desires Toto Wolff to launch dialectical offers a Mad Maxarrives in two weeks Australian Grand Prix as head of Red Bull or if they throw him out first.

In some German media are already taking it for granted that Horner will be fired for the damage to the Austrian team’s image caused by the alleged investigations into the alleged Englishmen “bad behavior” with a company employee. Ultimately, that complaint was dismissed.

But there are consequences.

According to some reports, Oliver Mitzlaffthe executive director of Red Bull, intends to fire Horner. On the one hand, Red Bull shareholders fear that the complainant, after being suspended from her job, will launch legal action against the internal investigation, which may not have met the necessary objectivity.

Moreover, They don’t want there to be a boycott of Red Bull in the United States, promoted by women’s rights activists in that country. And the company wants to defend its market space at all costs.

In the midst of this scandal of proportions, as it was, Mercedes team boss Wolff has once again admitted that he would like to have Verstappen if the Dutchman were available, although he also acknowledged that the current priority is to improve his car before thinking too much about the future.

With Verstappen and Red Bull proving to be a dominant force in F1 of late, Wolff was asked at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend whether it would be good for the sport for Verstappen to seek a new challenge with another team.

“I’d like to have it, but first we have to fix the car. “I think we owe it to our drivers, George (Russell) and Lewis (Hamilton): to improve the car and give them a team that is good before we dream about the future next year,” Wolff responded.

Pressed to say whether Verstappen is high on his list of possible candidates, he replied: “Let’s put it this way: I think it’s a decision Max has to make and there’s not a team up and down the grid that wouldn’t.” do everything possible to have it in the car.”

Horner, Wolff’s nemesis, replied: “It’s natural that all teams have the desire to sign the best driver on the grid. I’m sure every team would like to have Max, but as Toto himself said, the best drivers always want to be in the best cars. We are a team. So if a driver decides to go somewhere else, he will go somewhere else, but frankly I don’t see any reason to leave this team”.