Former F1 driver highlights 'Horner-gate' factor which has caused 'pain' for Red Bull

Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, alarm bells are once again ringing at Red Bull Racing. The race in the desert highlighted that the Austrian team’s issues are still far from resolved. Former F1 driver Christijan Albers shared his thoughts on the root of the team’s problems during De Telegraaf’s Formula 1 podcast.

Albers points to 'Horner-gate' for Red Bull's problems

The former Formula 1 driver said: "All the trouble that was there last year, with everything surrounding the Horner-gate and people walking away. Look, that has directly or indirectly caused a lot of pain for the whole team. And we need to address that because it has put them in the situation they are in today."

Christian Horner was involved in an infamous scandal at the start of 2024 where allegations were made by a former female Red Bull employee of Horner's cross-border behaviour. Since then, ripples have been felt within the team.

Have pitstops worsened due to Wheatley's departure?

The next issue raised was Red Bull’s recent struggles with pit stops. In the past, Jonathan Wheatley played a key role in developing Red Bull Racing’s fast and efficient stops. However, he has since left the team and is now the team principal at Sauber, which will become Audi in 2026.

However, Albers does not believe that Wheatley's departure is the reason for the pitstop mishaps in Bahrain: "Those are really momentary shots. And I don't think that's entirely fair because, at some point, it's quite simple if you have a pit crew. Look, Jonathan Wheatley is not standing there himself."

Red Bull had issues with both Verstappen and Tsunoda's cars in the pitbox. The light, which lets drivers know if they are allowed to proceed out of the box, was stuck to red, delaying both in the process.

The former Minardi, Midland and Spyker driver continued: "It's not fair at all because those pitstops have been practised so much. And Jonathan Wheatley has influence, but he doesn't control the speed and the organization. But you can't just lose that all at once. It could also be that you just had bad luck. And how often have they had that happen? Not very often. So let's look at the next race in Jeddah. If they have it all together again there, then you just had bad luck."

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This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut