The extent of how certain sporting governing bodies being so corrupt can be so unbelievable. There is no telling how far these issues can go. It can take form in just about anything. The most common is money and adult fun. It is the latter that seems to be the way for the Formula 1 (F1) game. The investigations into the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner are varying but interesting nonetheless to explore.
Christian Horner has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a female employee. The level of the complaint isn't clear but rumour has it that it is touch's the line of extreme adult fun. Horner has no fears about his job in spite of the allegations. This is because of the previous owner, Dietrich Mateschits, who owned 49%. When he passed away in 2022, his son, Mark took over. Word was spreading that Mark Mateschitz had already decided to give Horner the boot after the investigation but was overruled by the remaining 51% of the shareholderS.
Recently, the name of Helmut Marko has come to the spotlight. He is Red Bull's motorsport advisor. He fears suspension as he has been identified as being a rat by leaking information relating to the Horner investigation to the media.
In connection to this, Mohammed Ben Sulayem was asked about this whole matter. He was told that he should make a statement in which he supports Horner. Max Verstappen retaliated by stating that a public investigation into it should take place. This is despite Horner being cleared by Red Bull.
It has recently come to light that Sulayem has been abusing his power that his position bestows upon him. He reversed a penalty that Fernando Alonso. This reversal allowed Alonso to have a podium finish. In addition, he requested that the Las Vegas track certification to be withheld even though there's nothing wrong with it.
It's unclear as to the reasoning. The most logical reasoning would be the conflict between FIA and Liberty Media - which owns F1. It's estimated that they invested 500 000 000 Dollars. This was done to show that the Las Vegas track was the biggest one in the world. Cancelling it at the last minute would be a total embarrassment.
To me, this whole entire saga is a diaster. It's a mess. It's hard to fathem just how far and long this can go. It's quite clear, at least to me, that the F1 Red Bull team is hazardous. If I was part of the team, I would drink the namesake beverage and fly as far away from it as possible, as per the ads. I know I can't fly but still, I'd run away from it and not look back. I feel there will be a repeation of the Biblical story relating to the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the fate of Lots' wife (who turned into a pillar of salt). I obviously won't turn into salt but a familiar fate might befall onto me.
I can't imagine how long the road to recovery will be - if there is even one. Cleaning this up will take time and I can't foresee forgiving hugs being made anytime soon. There will be no laughing or reminiscing about the "good old days." All this will leave a bad taste on the mouth of (probably) all F1 officials and fans.
On a final note, I would like to thank Marc Lieberthal (again) for providing me with the details of the stories.
"There is too much talk off-track because on-track activities are not very exciting at the moment."
- Fernando Alonso