Cloud of misconduct hangs over start of F1 testing
SAKHIR, Bahrain — Team principal Christian Horner was with
Red Bull as Formula One preseason testing began Wednesday even as he faces an ongoing investigation by the team’s parent company into an alleged claim of misconduct.
Horner was alongside Adrian Newey, who is the team’s chief technology officer and car designer, as Max Verstappen drove Red Bull’s new car at the start of Wednesday’s morning session. It is the start of the Dutch driver’s campaign for a fourth consecutive world title.
The Red Bull parent company said Feb. 5 it was investigating allegations of misconduct toward a team employee. Horner denies any wrongdoing and has continued in his role as team principal during the investigation.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff called for transparency from the investigation as the new season nears.
“Formula One and what the teams do, we stand for for inclusion, equality, fairness, diversity, and it’s not only about talking about it, but living it day in, day out,” Wolff said during testing.
“I think what Red Bull has started as an independent investigation, if this is done in the right way, with transparency and with that rigor, I think that’s something that we need to look at. What the outcomes are and what it means for Formula One and what we can learn from that.”
On the track, Red Bull still had the fastest car in testing. Verstappen set the pace with a time that was more than a second faster than anyone else and completed 142 laps. That’s more than double the distance of next week’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and more than any other team completed Wednesday.
Lando Norris was second-fastest for Mclaren, 1.14 seconds off Verstappen’s pace and 0.1 faster than Carlos Sainz Jr. for Ferrari. Mercedes lacked pace on the first day of testing with George Russell only 12th fastest despite completing 121 laps.
While most teams designed cars broadly similar to the 2023 Red Bull which won all but one race, Red Bull has changed its approach. Its new car has slim sidepods with vertical air intakes. It resembles an approach Mercedes tried previously with little success, but Verstappen’s times indicated Red Bull has found a way to make it work.
Williams was the only team with obvious reliability issues as Alex Albon’s car stopped on the track with a technical fault. His teammate, American driver Logan Sargeant, had a dramatic spin in the afternoon session but continued.
There are three days of preseason testing through Friday ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at the same venue next week.
Each day is split into two sessions, and teams can only have one driver on track in each. That meant Lewis Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes at the end of the year to join Ferrari, was sitting out the first day as Russell drove.
Mclaren’s Norris wore a helmet with the design used by 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran, who died in December. De Ferran was Mclaren’s sporting director when Norris first raced in F1 in 2019 and had more recently been an adviser to the team.
“We lost someone really special to us at the end of last year, he was a dear friend of mine and he’d been with me pretty much since I came into Formula 1. Someone who I not only had many laughs and great times with, but someone who helped me out on and off the track whenever I needed it,” Norris posted on social media. “This is the design he won the Indy 500 with, and I’ll be wearing it today as my little way to say thank you for everything.”