A leadership problem at Red Bull that is comparable to mine at McLaren-Hamilton……….
Lewis Hamilton thinks the squad will be impacted by the uncertainty surrounding Christian Horner’s future at Red Bull.
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The former driver for McLaren made comparisons to the circumstances at that team during his tenure. At the start of 2009, its team principal, Ron Dennis, took a leave of absence from its management.
In a press conference held yesterday at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Hamilton stated, “From my experience, obviously seeing having gone through something similar back in the day, when I was at McLaren in the sense of our leader was in question, they were going through a difficult time and it affected everybody.” I have therefore experienced it whether it exists or not.
“I recall the time when Ron was leaving us,In April 2009, Dennis stepped down as McLaren’s leader after two major scandals surrounding the team. It was fined $100 million and disqualified from the 2007 Constructors’ Championship for utilising Ferrari-provided proprietary information. Following an investigation, it was discovered that Hamilton and the team had mislead the stewards, and they were disqualified from the opening race of 2009.
After Dennis left, McLaren had a dismal start to the 2009 season, but they improved in the second half. At the end of 2012, Hamilton departed for Mercedes.
Red Bull has cast doubt on Horner’s future after an internal probe found no evidence of inappropriate behaviour on his part. The team did not confirm any information regarding the case’s specifics, but they are now under additional pressure to elucidate the charges against him following the purported leak of documents that were filed to the hearing.
Hamilton stated that if Horner is replaced, the team will become unstable. He stated, “A leader sets the tone, which makes them extremely important.” They ensure that the team upholds integrity, one of the fundamental principles of the game.
“That leader is crucial, in my opinion, to the goal you’re pursuing, even though there are many others who are equally significant farther down the abyss.”
After this season, the seven-time champion will join Ferrari. Red Bull’s turbulence has sparked rumours that Max Verstappen may depart to join Mercedes or that Mercedes’ top designer Adrian Newey—who once collaborated with Hamilton at McLaren—may follow Verstappen to Ferrari.
Hamilton did not exclude any of the possibilities. He is sceptical that Verstappen, who has won 20 of the previous 21 Grand Prix, will depart from Red Bull, though.
“My actions seem to demonstrate that anything is achievable,” he remarked. “The next six months or so are going to be really interesting.”
“I have no additional information about… Max is undoubtedly on the list [at Mercedes], but I’m fairly certain he’s already committed. It is beyond me why he would abandon a
