F1 News
Horner irritated with former F1 driver: 'Intimidating me didn't work'
- Ludo van Denderen
Christijan Albers has been more than outspoken about Christian Horner in recent weeks. In the Telegraaf's podcast, the former F1 driver regularly told the Red Bull Racing team boss that, in his view, the best thing to do was to quit. Indeed, according to Albers, Horner was the reason for the internal unrest at Red Bull. The Dutchman's statements also appear to have been heard by Horner, who was clearly not happy about them.
It was at last weekend's Monaco GP that Horner spotted Albers and resolutely approached him to express his dissatisfaction with his words. "At first he felt he could intimidate me a bit," Albers says on the podcast. "That didn't quite work. I also said: 'You can't make your problem my problem'."
The problem Albers is referring to is the accusation by a female employee of Red Bull Racing. She believes Horner has behaved transgressively towards her. An initial internal investigation by Red Bull GmbH cleared the team boss, but an appeal is currently ongoing.
Albers and Horner have reconciled
"English press just wants to eat everyone in England and chop their heads off," Albers continued. "Those grab quotes everywhere they can find, bits out of it, and they blow that up. In the end, it was sanded over it and we just moved on. I also asked him some questions on the grid. Other than that it was okay."
As an analyst, Albers is expected to give his opinion. The former driver admits that he is opinionated. "Something I think, I just say. I don't mince words. I can often do that a bit more tactfully. But you can say what it stands for. And in every situation in the world, someone [in a similar case as with Horner] gets suspended. Apparently, that is not the case in this situation. We also said [in our podcast] that there are always two parties, two stories. This is not over either. There will be a tail end because that party is going further."