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BREAKING NEWS: SENIOR FIGURES AT REDBULL QUESTIONED OVER LEAKED MESSAGES AMID CRASHGATE SCANDAL
FIA president Jean Todt today announced that there would be a formal investigation into RedBull and the role the Milton Keynes based team played in the crash that took out Mercedes' Rookie Scarlet Crusoe at the 2022 British GP.
The texts were leaked anonymously but did much to highlight the pre-planning of the crash that would end the season of driver 12. Identified on the messages are Team Principal Christian Horner, Senior Advisor Helmut Marko and driver Max Verstappen, however there are thought to be up to a total of seven individuals involved in the scandal. It has been revealed in closed hearings that the 'unknown' contact sharing messages with Verstappen is thought to be fellow British driver Lando Norris, although this is yet to be confirmed.
If found guilty of the charges then the punishment would be severe and with many jobs and reputations on the line it is down to the panel put together by Todt to decide the outcome. It is thought that the investigation will take up to four months to complete, so it is likely that we will know the champion of 2022 before the outcome of the investigation.
To further complicate an already tangled mess it was revealed that both victim Scarlet Crusoe and perpetrator Max Verstappen are in a romantic relationship. Neither drive has comments on the pending investigation and have remained fairly quiet since the initial crash.
Scarlet Crusoe who is unable to complete the season due to the injuries sustained was replaced by Eight Time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and it looks like he could be on for a record ninth. Following his win at Hungary he spoke to the press; "There has to be accountability, if it was an accident then it will be easy to prove, but it doesn't look good from where I am standing. We know the risks [of driving] but when another driver deliberately stages a crash for a personal vendetta, then it's different."
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff notified the press that it wasn't an easy decision to go forward with the investigation: "You see there are a lot of emotions and personal feelings in this case and we discussed it through and through. She [Scarlet Crusoe] felt that it would paint her negatively, but at the end of the day when we removed the emotions, pushing forward was the right thing to do."
Up until Silverstone Crusoe had been leading the championship and had been the most impressive driver on the track, gaining a reputation for pushing the limits and dancing on the edge of the car. Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg described her a 'once in a generation talent' and claimed that if anyone could rival records set by Lewis Hamilton it would be her.
RedBull are yet to comment on the investigation, but we expect statements to be released in the coming days.
