Ex-Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde has suggested that the controversy surrounding Christian Horner may have played a part in Max Verstappen’s car catching fire at the Australian Grand Prix. The Dutchman retired early from a race for the first time in two years, with Carlos Sainz crossing the chequered line first.
Verstappen was furious that he was unable to claim a record-equalling 10th Grand Prix win in a row, having encountered an issue while in the lead. He was passed by Sainz after a failure on the right rear brake forced the Dutchman to slow down and end his race prematurely.
When entering the pits, smoke emerged from Verstappen’s RB20 and the driver said: “I have smoke, fire fire, brake, my brake” over the team radio. He was unharmed but upset at the mechanical retirement, with team principal Horner later confirming that a brake issue scuppered the race and an investigation would be launched to discover the cause.
But Van der Garde, who raced for Caterham and Sauber in F1, believes that the saga engulfing Horner and Red Bull may indirectly be to blame. Though insisting that there was no “sabotage” at play, the Dutchman felt that internal pressure could have prompted such a critical mistake.
“It was either a mechanical problem with the brake, or someone forgot to do something,” Van der Garde said on the DRS De Race Show. “It’s certainly strange that this happened right now at Red Bull. I’m not saying it’s sabotage – certainly not.
“But when there are internal messes in a team like that, people can make mistakes. We haven’t seen it in two years. It was such a well-oiled machine. Everything ran so perfectly. So does this have something to do with what’s going on at the top?”
Horner was cleared following an investigation from Red Bull after accusations of inappropriate behaviour were raised, though an appeal has been launched and the English executive has been unable to put the saga behind him. The team principal has strenously denied the allegations throughout.
The allegations have led to waves of pressure and controversy falling upon Red Bull as the futures of Horner, Verstappen, senior advisor Helmut Marko and chief technology officer Adrian Newey have all been in doubt.
Rumours of an internal power struggle and reportedly even a spy sent by Thai owner Chalerm Yoovidhya have placed greater pressure on Red Bull staff, with Van der Garde speculating that the resulting drama may have contributed to a mistake which led to Verstappen’s car catching on fire.
Red Bull will be determined not to have a repeat next week at the Japanese GP.
