2024 Formula 1 Season thread

[Glideslope]

Titanic Power Struggle between the Yoovidhya family and Mark. Probably would never have been revealed if the Yoovidhya family had transferred the agreement they had with Dad to make operational decisions, and personal decisions independently. Mark has been livid over this.

It's unfortunate everything has to be anonymous. It's always more legitimate when a name and face are attached. Although it's not hard to research who Horner's PA was.......

 

[laptech]

I wonder if the leak of the messages is design to keep the issue of Horner in the public eye so journalists have something 'juicy' to write about. The evidence of this is look at all the interviews Horner has given, there has always been one journalist who has brought up the issue of the investigation and asked him to comment on it. Look at all the news articles about RBR, the car, pre racing, it's drivers, they all discuss about the reason for the news article but always at the very bottom the person writing the articles then talks about Horner and the investigation.

A good example of this is this BBC news article about Lewis Hamilton topping Bahrain GP second practice,

Lewis Hamilton tops Bahrain Grand Prix second practice

Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two in Thursday practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

www.bbc.co.uk

for those who are able to, scroll down to the bottom of the article and you will see what I am talking about. The news article is about Hamilton and what he achieved in the second practice and yet the author of the article felt the need to include something about the investigation into Horner, something that has nothing to do with Hamilton and the second practice.

 

[Pezimak]

I wonder if the leak of the messages is design to keep the issue of Horner in the public eye so journalists have something 'juicy' to write about. The evidence of this is look at all the interviews Horner has given, there has always been one journalist who has brought up the issue of the investigation and asked him to comment on it. Look at all the news articles about RBR, the car, pre racing, it's drivers, they all discuss about the reason for the news article but always at the very bottom the person writing the articles then talks about Horner and the investigation.

A good example of this is this BBC news article about Lewis Hamilton topping Bahrain GP second practice,

Lewis Hamilton tops Bahrain Grand Prix second practice

Lewis Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two in Thursday practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

www.bbc.co.uk

for those who are able to, scroll down to the bottom of the article and you will see what I am talking about. The news article is about Hamilton and what he achieved in the second practice and yet the author of the article felt the need to include something about the investigation into Horner, something that has nothing to do with Hamilton and the second practice.

Oh have no doubts the wolfs will be feasting on this for a week or two now. Al this weekend all they will report on is Horner and the RB team.
No news outlet has printed the messages though or reported on what they contain. I am not sure if Horner has threatened to sue anyone who does, or maybe they cannot prove their legitimacy as all reports claim the leak is 'purportedly' of the case, not they actually are if it.

This is something we really need to get to the bottom off, I haven't seen my friend walking his dog for a while so can't get any inside info. But hopefully they'll release a statement at some point?

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I agree. What is happening to Horner now is something that plays out when some people who are 'in the know' disagree with the 'he did no wrong' verdict and leak information that shows he in actually did do wrong and that the investigation was designed to clear him.

According to what I read in the mainstream media, an anonymous email that had message attachments to it was sent to 149 people within the F1 community. If the messages are fake then Red Bull needs to get the police involved because someone is trying to destroy Horner's career. If the messages are real then Red Bull has a problem with someone leaking confidential information because those messages would have been only available to the independent investigating lawyer and the team working with them and senior officials within Red Bull Gmbh and RBR. The second and more important and worrying issue for Red Bull Gmbh and RBR is that if the messages are real then why was Horner found to have done nothing wrong.

The legitimacy of the messages will now have to be determined because if they are fake then it will have to investigated BUT if the messages turn out to be real then that poses some serious questions about the investigation as in were the messages made available to the investigating lawyer and if so, how did the lawyer still find in favor of Horner.

Those messages have stirred up a hornets nest. Horner has to hope those messages are fake because if not then his career is over in my opinion.

It is all very messy and I agree whichever way it turns out to be, its got serious consequences. If the messages are real, then Red Bull are going to have to pay significant damages to the complainant as they ruled in favour of Horner, and announced this publicly, probably hoping this was the end of it and a financial settlement agreed in private. It would be the first step to taking them for constructive dismissal as it would not only show the investigation was rigged in the companies favour, but there is a massive breach of confidentiality.

It would be difficult to sympathise with Christian I think as the messages are clearly a man who is coercive, and lechy towards a colleague and any company would class that as gross misconduct. He is ultimately responsible, should he have a downfall. If its a stitchup, I agree with you, it would be pretty disgusting and quite a scary level of malice being used.

This is certainly distracting away from the opening race and there is no way Christian will be available to the media this weekend. I would imagine he has already flown home.

My hope is the engineers at Red Bull are distracted and we see a Merc, Ferrari or a McLaren on that top step on Sunday

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Oh have no doubts the wolfs will be feasting on this for a week or two now. Al this weekend all they will report on is Horner and the RB team.
No news outlet has printed the messages though or reported on what they contain. I am not sure if Horner has threatened to sue anyone who does, or maybe they cannot prove their legitimacy as all reports claim the leak is 'purportedly' of the case, not they actually are if it.

This is something we really need to get to the bottom off, I haven't seen my friend walking his dog for a while so can't get any inside info. But hopefully they'll release a statement at some point?

I don't think the Wolff's are going to be relishing in this with any revengeful intent. There may be a competitive rivalry where they may not be best friends, but nobody decent likes to see anybody's life destroyed. It will certianly be a hot topic over the weekend and expect Max and Checo to be asked repeatedly how its affecting the team. The same default answers will follow of how they are focusing on racing etc, as you'd expect from any team. Horner has apparently said very briefly that he denies the allegations despite the messages leak. This could turn into a Netflix crime documentary if someone has faked it all and gone after one of the biggest personalities in the sport. The fact no news agency has published the messages suggests to me it is either too risky from a legal standpoint, or they are fake.

Christian Horner: Red Bull team principal denies claims again after alleged messages leak

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner denies allegations of inappropriate behaviour again after a series of alleged messages are leaked.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

What you were sent must be fake then. If it was sexual he would never survive it no matter who he is. They said it wasn't sexual and seemed adamant on it. I would say Horner doesn't seem the type but these days looking at the famous people caught doing it you never know.
We will now get a load of fake stuff reporting to be real cause it's 'funny'. What a mess.

They may well be, I mean they certainly look like real messages, but easily faked I think. I especially hope I haven't seen an actual picture of Horners private parts, thats for sure.

I now we have different perceptions of people from what we see, but i have the opposite view on him. He is exactly the person I would expect this sort of behaviour from to be honest. He was in a loving relationship with a new baby when he left his partner for Geri Halliwell don't forget. She went after him for 5 years prior and he often had her as his guest at GP weekends, so him straying with another woman wouldn't surprise me. He is quite sure of himself and is often very smug in front of the camera. I don't know him though so we just form these perceptions based on what we see.

A Hamilton win at the weekend anyone? I need to get back to reading up about the on track stuff, I have no idea what the potential real order is!

 

[Pezimak]

They may well be, I mean they certainly look like real messages, but easily faked I think. I especially hope I haven't seen an actual picture of Horners private parts, thats for sure.

I now we have different perceptions of people from what we see, but i have the opposite view on him. He is exactly the person I would expect this sort of behaviour from to be honest. He was in a loving relationship with a new baby when he left his partner for Geri Halliwell don't forget. She went after him for 5 years prior and he often had her as his guest at GP weekends, so him straying with another woman would surprise me. He is quite sure of himself and is often very smug in front of the camera. I don't know him though so we just form these perceptions based on what we see.

A Hamilton win at the weekend anyone? I need to get back to reading up about the on track stuff, I have no idea what the potential real order is!

If they are real I feel sorry for you seeing Horners tally wackle!! But that's why I think they have to be fake, showing pics of your bits to a colleague is a bit difficult to claim as not sexual..
And it would be difficult for an independent investigation to conclude as such and Horner as not being guilty.

That what irks me about it, IF Horner sent dirty pics to an employee then absolutely he should be sacked and discredited, and RB's investigation policy ripped apart too!

But I can't see them being so as they explicitly stated it was not sexual? I'm hoping so.

I can't say he wouldn't do it, cause in society these days, well we see all sorts perverts in all levels of professionalism.

And IF they are real who leaked them? Because it's obviously designed to get rid of Horner but it seriously damages any chance of appeal, and if this girl did it then she can kiss any compensation goodbye if found guilty.

Whole thing is very odd.

 

[Glideslope]

Horner just pulled from P3 to meet with F1 Leadership…………

Edit: returned with Ben Sulayem. Both embraced in the paddock. Smiles, pats on the back. Horner returned to his station.

Interesting optics…..

 

[Apple fanboy]

I just wish we could focus on the racing. I don’t follow F1 for the drama off the track.

Mostly I just want to know if practice times are a representation of the true pace. Unfortunately I’ll be waiting for the highlights at 7:30 this evening.

Fingers crossed it’s not RBR on the front row. Anyone else will do!

 

[laptech]

I think you will find that none of the established media are going to print the messages because the legitimacy of messages are in doubt. If the messages were to be printed and they turned out to be fake, any media outlet that printed them could face a very expensive lawsuit.

It will be very interesting to see what his wife has to say about these messages because if they are fake then she has nothing to worry about and can say to the press that she has full confidence in her husband and that she stands by him 100%. If she does not come out and say something to that effect then that will just fuel rumor's that the messages are real because given her background as a woman with strong thoughts and feelings towards girl power, I doubt she would lie for her husband if she was asked to.

It is a shame that this overshadowing the start of the GP season because that is all we are seeing now is talk of Horner and these messages. We know why the press are doing it because this sort of drama is what sells their papers, not talk of who is doing what in practice and pre race sessions.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think you will find that none of the established media are going to print the messages because the legitimacy of messages are in doubt. If the messages were to be printed and they turned out to be fake, any media outlet that printed them could face a very expensive lawsuit.

It will be very interesting to see what his wife has to say about these messages because if they are fake then she has nothing to worry about and can say to the press that she has full confidence in her husband and that she stands by him 100%. If she does not come out and say something to that effect then that will just fuel rumor's that the messages are real because given her background as a woman with strong thoughts and feelings towards girl power, I doubt she would lie for her husband if she was asked to.

It is a shame that this overshadowing the start of the GP season because that is all we are seeing now is talk of Horner and these messages. We know why the press are doing it because this sort of drama is what sells their papers, not talk of who is doing what in practice and pre race sessions.

Funny thing is Lewis move to Ferrari which you’d expect to be a big news item is also not really being talked about.
Hopefully once the racing starts we will have some actual action to talk about!

 

[Glideslope]

I just wish we could focus on the racing. I don’t follow F1 for the drama off the track.

Mostly I just want to know if practice times are a representation of the true pace. Unfortunately I’ll be waiting for the highlights at 7:30 this evening.

Fingers crossed it’s not RBR on the front row. Anyone else will do!

Looks like P3 confirmed that Mercedes was focused on race pace in P2. Most likely two races tomorrow. Full tanks and after lap 40.

 

[laptech]

Funny thing is Lewis move to Ferrari which you’d expect to be a big news item is also not really being talked about.
Hopefully once the racing starts we will have some actual action to talk about!

You know what? the only time there was major and I mean major talk about Lewis Hamilton it had nothing to do with F1 but everything to do with BLM (Black Lives Matter). Very little is written about F1 in the UK press. It is always mainly about Football, Cricket and Rugby.

 

[Don Quixote]

Hamilton and Russel top FP2. Belief is the Mercedes was running their engine at "normal" power while Ferrari and Red Bull were not.

• Alonso 3rd
• Piastri 5th
• Carlos 4th and Charles 9th
• Max 6th and Perez 10th
• Norris last, but he stuffed up his run.

Come on Lando!

You too Carlos!

 

[CWallace]

FP3 Results:

1. Sainz
2. Alonso
3. Verstappen
4. LeClerc
5. Norris
6. Russel
7. Piastri
8. Perez
9. Hulkenberg
10. Stroll

Spread was just about a half-second across them.

Qualifying in about 10 minutes.

 

[CWallace]

I wonder if the leak of the messages is design to keep the issue of Horner in the public eye so journalists have something 'juicy' to write about.

The last thing the FIA and Formula One want everyone talking about at the start of the new season is a sexual harassment scandal - doubly so when it involves the Team Principal of the reigning Constructor's Champion.

 

[Glideslope]

Dominant Poll from Max. Just turn up the Honda when you need a couple of tenths. 😉

 

[headlessmike]

Was not expected Haas to make it out of Q1, let alone with both cars, and Hulkenberg is once again a really good qualifier. Other than Alpine bringing up the rear of the field the results mirror what we saw towards the end of 2023.

 

[Glideslope]

Was not expected Haas to make it out of Q1, let alone with both cars, and Hulkenberg is once again a really good qualifier. Other than Alpine bringing up the rear of the field the results mirror what we saw towards the end of 2023.

Agreed. Hulk looked very strong.

 

[CWallace]

Max did benefit from the tow by Piastri down the front straight, but still looked like he had the measure of the Ferrari when it counted. Still, at least we have three teams in the top three positions.

 

[CWallace]

Was not expected Haas to make it out of Q1, let alone with both cars, and Hulkenberg is once again a really good qualifier.

Magnussen had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, but I do not know if it was fast enough to have gotten him out of Q2.

 

[Pezimak]

May have to watch quali later. I presume that means a bloody sprint race tomorrow sigh...? I hope it's closer this year, like a LOT closer. Would be nice to still have a battle mid way through the year as opposed to a forgone conclusion on the winner.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Looks closer this year, the top 9 all within 5 tenths of each other and Max got pole from a tow. Bahrain is a power track where aero is important so hopefully we have a championship this year, it feels ages since we’ve had that.

 

[CWallace]

May have to watch quali later. I presume that means a bloody sprint race tomorrow sigh...?

No tomorrow is the Grand Prix. Ramadan starts on Sunday so they moved the GP forward a day.

China is the first Sprint Race Weekend.

 

[Pezimak]

No tomorrow is the Grand Prix. Ramadan starts on Sunday so they moved the GP forward a day.

China is the first Sprint Race Weekend.

Ah gotcha thank goodness for that lol. Give me a chance to check the F1 app and my VPN still work, apparently F1 have put the price of the app up.