After Brazil, why did Horner fly straight to Thailand for summit talks?

Rumours surrounding Perez's seat

In his Green Notebook, renowned F1 journalist Saward writes about rumours, sparked by fellow journalist Albert Fabrega, that Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez might swap places. Perez would 'go back' to Aston Martin, and Alonso would take the spot at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen.

Alonso reacted furiously to the rumours. Later, Fabrega also said that his insinuating post on X did not allude to the driver swap between the two Spanish-speaking drivers. Saward says he is not looking for anything else behind the rumours but finds it striking that Alonso reacted so angrily to the story that was picked up in the Spanish media in particular.

Why did Horner go to Thailand?

The Brit shifts his focus and looks at the situation at Red Bull Racing, where Daniel Ricciardo is a solid plan b in case Perez no longer drives at Red Bull next year. Saward insinuates that despite commitments and Red Bull's stated intention to keep Perez, the Mexican's seat is still in doubt.

The journalist insinuates this by writing: "After the Brazilian Grand Prix, Christian Horner flew off to Thailand to meet with Chalerm Yoovidhya, the man who owns 51 percent of the Red Bull empire – and thus makes the important decisions about the company. I would be surprised if the subject of Perez was not on the agenda."

As Red Bull's majority owner, Yoovidhya could have a big say in decisions. It seems unlikely that the Thai boss would interfere so closely with the F1 team and have such a decisive voice regarding F1 team driver line-ups. However, it did emerge among rumours last month about a power struggle within Red Bull that Horner and the Thai side of the company have a good relationship.