The official start to the 2024 Formula 1 season is just days away, with the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix set to get underway Saturday night.
Whether Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner will still be with the team by then remains in doubt.
Horner remains the subject of an internal investigation into allegations of “inappropriate” behavior, and while the team boss maintains that he has done nothing wrong, he has already spent hours meeting with the external counsel who were retained to conduct the investigation. Horner was with the team when they launched the RB20, and was also present during pre-season testing in Bahrain last week.
Now Ford CEO Jim Farley has written to the team, expressing his frustration with the pace of the investigation, and the lack of a resolution. In a letter to Red Bull dated last Friday, and obtained by the Associated Press, Farley noted Ford’s “non-negotiable” values, and blasted the pace of the investigation as well as a lack of updates from Red Bull.
“As we have indicated previously, without satisfactory response, Ford’s values are non-negotiable,” Farley wrote in the letter obtained by the Associated Press. “It is imperative that our racing partners share and demonstrate a genuine commitment to those same values. My team and I are available at any time to discuss this matter. We remain insistent on, and hopeful, for a resolution we can all stand behind.”
Farley also noted that while Ford trusts that the investigation into the alleged misconduct is “fair,” the company is becoming “increasingly frustrated, however, by the lack of resolution or clear indication from you about when you anticipate a fair and just resolution of this matter,” said Farley in the letter according to the Associated Press. “We are likewise frustrated by the lack of full transparency surrounding this matter with us, your corporate partners, and look forward to receiving a complete account of all findings.”
Why does this letter matter? Ford announced a partnership with Red Bull in early 2023, with the manufacturer set to join forces with the team for the 2026 season as Red Bull’s engine supplier. When the team launched the RB19, their challenger for the 2023 F1 season, at a live event in New York City in February of 2023 Farley attended the event, to help announce the partnership. “Ford is going to return to Formula 1 after 20 years” Farley said at the time. “We wanted to go in a direction that’s authentic to us … we’ve decided to have a strategic and technical partnership with Red Bull for 2026 … it’s a big deal for us.”
