McLaren and Red Bull clash over the Fallows case

On April 9, Red Bull announced, following the confirmed departure of Peter Prodromou, head of the aerodynamics department, to McLaren, the appointment of Dan Fallows, who was Prodromou’s deputy, to this position. However, shortly after, McLaren, through Eric Boullier, contested this, arguing that the Woking team and Fallows had previously reached an agreement.

McLaren had left some doubt about the possibility of legal action, with the door apparently still open to an amicable settlement. However, during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Ron Dennis, the director of the McLaren Group, seemed to lean towards court action: “We are not happy to contract with people formally only to find these contracts are flouted and ignored,” he told Sky Sports.

A contract signed with Martin Whitmarsh?

One of the questions raised concerns the fate of Martin Whitmarsh, who could have tipped the scales when Dan Fallows reconsidered his decision. This is at least what Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, suggests: « You can’t force someone to work where they don’t want to. […] Dan Fallows […] signed a contract with McLaren with people who are no longer there. It’s not something Ron doesn’t know about; it has happened to him in the past. »

Dennis, precisely, contests the intuitu personae nature of the agreement: « Not at all. In fact, it wasn’t signed with Martin at all, it was one of our managers. After all, a contract is a contract. » For the Briton, Red Bull acted behind the scenes to provoke the turnaround: « What I am particularly uncomfortable with is that people don’t change their minds like that, they are persuaded to change their minds and break contracts. It’s just wrong, and that’s not how it works in life; we can ignore it or do something about it. As with everything in law, there are mechanisms open to everyone to bring out the truth. »

Dennis: Our messages were ignored by Red Bull

He adds that the leaders of the Austrian team could not have been unaware of the engagement between McLaren and Fallows: “It’s up to Christian to reach out. We did everything to ensure they knew there was a contract, we sent the messages and they were ignored. We are all here to win, but there are ways to win, and I want to win in the way McLaren does, whether it’s a Grand Prix or anything we are involved in,” he explains, before concluding: “My door is open, I am available 24/7, that’s how the work should be done. He knows my number and he can call me whenever he wants.”

For Horner, McLaren should focus on its problems

According to Horner, on the contrary, Red Bull has nothing to do with Fallows’s decision: « The situation with Dan is very clear. He decided he wanted to leave Red Bull for reasons of his own, but with the changes that happened at McLaren, he decided he no longer wanted to join them. It was 100% his choice to approach us and see if the situation was still open. Involving lawyers, if that’s how McLaren wants to act, then that’s how it will be done. »

He takes the opportunity to address a jab at the British team, whose results have not been good for two races (no points scored in Bahrain and China): “We must be careful not to disrupt their focus, which should be more directed towards themselves. Obviously, it’s easy for McLaren to divert attention from their bigger problems… it’s obvious why they’re looking for aerodynamicists!” he stated to Crash.net.

McLaren explores other avenues

Eric Boullier, racing director at McLaren, explained to Crash.net that the team had to move forward: « We have to cope without him today, so we must consider all scenarios. But, likewise, we must consider the scenario that he may never return or may not join us, so we are evaluating what we need to do and what we already have. »

When asked about recruitment, Boullier confirmed that it would be done externally, joking about when it will be made public: « When they have joined us and when we are sure they’ll be there in the morning! »