ALLEGED “leaked texts” have put Christian Horner’s position as Team Principal of Red Bull into doubt – but he does still have the support of the most powerful man at Red Bull.
The British boss was cleared of wrongdoing by his team’s internal investigation on Wednesday, but less than 24 hours later was hit by a dossier of texts being leaked to journalists and F1 team principals.
The investigation into Horner, relating to accusations of “inappropriate behaviour” began in February, and has seen his previously untouchable position at Red Bull put into doubt.
Crucially for Horner, though, he has the support of majority Red Bull shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, 73.
The Thai businessman is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of £26.8billion.
That’s almost 27 times the net worth of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, thought to be worth nearly £1bn between them.
READ MORE ON CHRISTIAN HORNER
Yoovidhya inherited much of his wealth when his father, Chaleo died in 2012 – although he was involved in running the Red Bull conglomerate before that.
He owns 51 per cent of the Red Bull company and has the power of veto on shareholder decisions, making him a very important ally for Horner to have.
Although not a great deal is known about the Thai businessman’s personal life, he lives in Bangkok and has three children – all potential heirs in the Red Bull dynasty.
According to the Daily Mail, he is thought to be incredibly loyal to Horner, and has put down any attempts from within the team to get rid of him.
Most read in Motorsport
The businessman has been pictured with both Christian and Geri Horner several times and is thought to have a good personal relationship with the couple.
A power vacuum has been present at Red Bull since the death of Dietrich Mateschtiz who passed away in 2022.
Mateschitz founded Red Bull alongside Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1984 in a joint Austrian and Thai venture.
Dietrich’s death saw his son Mark, 31, inherit his 49 per cent of shares and while Dietrich was an avid supporter of Horner, Mark is not thought to be.
He is allegedly joined in the power struggle against Horner by Oliver Mintzlaff, who oversees Red Bull’s other sporting operations as well as F1, Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen’s father Jos, according to The Mail.
They claim that Mark, along with the Austrian faction of Red Bull wanted Horner to be dispatched “quickly” while the investigation was still ongoing.
But the support of Chalern Yoovidhya and the Thai branch of Red Bull has seen Horner remain as Red Bull’s team principal.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
