HE IS the Formula 1 tycoon who can, single-handedly, bring Christian Horner’s career to safety.
Red Bull owner Chalerm Yoovidhya has the largest stake in the company and is said to be the biggest sponsor of the long-suffering team principal.
F1 boss Horner, who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was rocked last week after explosive “sexting” messages with an alleged colleague were leaked online.
Just 24 hours earlier, he had been cleared of any misconduct toward the woman through an internal investigation, allegations he had denied.
Now, a stunning civil war has broken out at Red Bull after Jos Verstappen, the father of superstar driver Max, warned the team would “explode” if the 50-year-old stayed.
While some figures in the company have reportedly opposed Horner, the £26 billion Chalerm remains his biggest public ally.
At this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the pair were photographed alongside their wives, Geri and Daranee, as they celebrated three-time world champion Max winning the first race of the new season.
Thai billionaire Chalerm is the eldest son of Chaleo Yoovidhya, who co-founded the energy drink logo with Dietrich Mateschitz.
Austrian businessman Dietrich led the progression of Red Bull’s sports division, opting for Horner to release his F1 team and proving to be its biggest champion until his death in 2022.
Since then, Horner has forged close ties with Chalerm, while Dietrich’s own heir, Mark, is said to have cooled the leader of the scandal-hit team, according to Mail Online.
Off the beaten track, the Yoovidhya empire spans multimillion-dollar estates, vineyards, and from London to Bangkok.
But the playboy lifestyle of one of Chalerm’s 11 children presented the circle of relatives with a scandal of its own, and one far darker than Horner’s.
In 2012, Charlem’s son, Vorayuth, was allegedly involved in a twist of fate in Bangkok in which a police officer was killed.
He has been a fugitive since then, although the deadline for prosecuting him has passed.
Vorayuth, known as ‘Boss’, photographed travelling the world in personal planes, enjoying lavish holidays in Japan, Monaco, Venice and Laos in Asia and celebrating a birthday at Gordon Ramsay’s London restaurant.
He is believed to own a space in London where he helps maintain a black Porsche Carrera with private license plate BO55 RBR, short for “Boss Red Bull Racing. “
Last month, it revealed that a former top Bangkok police officer accused of helping Vorayuth evade justice along with other top officials.
The saga began 12 years ago when it was claimed that the 42-year-old policeman had run over Wichean Glanprasert with his Ferrari on a major street in Bangkok. The policeman’s mutilated body was dragged down the street with his tangled motorcycle.
Deputies followed a load of brake fluid to the Yoovidhya family’s gated property, where they discovered Vorayuth’s car with the bumper dangling.
The driver was initially blamed for the accident, but Vorayuth, who attended the exclusive private school Bradfield College in Berkshire, later handed himself in and admitted driving.
His lawyer claimed that the alcohol discovered in his formula was to calm his nerves after the accident.
His family paid £12,000 bail and returned home the same day, temporarily resuming their jet-set lifestyle. He was spotted three months later at the Red Bull Singha Race of Champions in Bangkok, surrounded by friends and cousins.
It took another five years for Thai police to issue an official arrest warrant in 2017, when Vorayuth fled Thailand and his passport was revoked.
Interpol has issued a “red notice” to detain him pending extradition, but it appears that it is no longer posted on its website.
He has not since appeared in court and his lawyers claim he is either too busy to appear or has important appointments, including one in London.
Chalerm sees Horner as a kind of son followed by
Thailand’s statute of limitations (the period during which a user can be sued) has begun to expire for charges of speeding, hit-and-run, and reckless driving death.
Then, in 2020, the police announced that they would drop all charges against him.
The move has sparked fury and a boycott of Red Bull products in Thailand, where activists complain of a two-tiered justice system: one for the deficient and one for the elites.
It emerged that at the time of the accident, the brother of the deceased policeman had signed a contract with the Yoovidhyas to obtain around £75,000 in reimbursement if the family agreed not to take criminal or civil action.
However, the deal did not remove them from a case brought by Thai prosecutors and, following the outcry that followed Vorayuth’s acquittal, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered a new investigation.
He said the initial investigation “compromised” and new drug use and dangerous driving death charges were filed against Vorayuth in 2020.
Jos, a former F1 driver, has scored two podiums in 106 races, but is known for being the father of three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Jos can be seen backstage at Red Bull during race weekends and is proud to publicly help his son.
However, it has come under some scrutiny in the past.
After a 1998 incident at a go-kart track in which another man suffered a fractured skull, he avoided a suspended criminal sentence after settling out of court with the victim.
Ten years later, he appeared in court, accused of assaulting his wife, Sophie Kumpen.
He was found not guilty of assault, but was found guilty of threatening Kumpen in text messages and violating a previously issued restraining order.
He was fined and given a three-month suspended criminal sentence.
And in January 2012, he was arrested on charges of hitting his ex-girlfriend with a car, but was released two weeks later after the charges were dropped.
He’s been overseeing his son’s career like a hawk and now, with a relationship between him and Horner, he leaves Max Verstappen in an awkward position.
Since then, he no longer has time to file the drug charge and the driving offense will expire in 2027.
Last month, several government and police officials were charged with plotting to get Vorayuth to flee the country.
Police leader Somyot Poompanmoung and other suspects risk being charged with abuse of force to aid individual prosecution.
Somyot last year accused the National Anti-Corruption Commission of falsifying evidence by changing the speedometer of the Vorayuth Ferrari.
The scandal is a far cry from the humble beginnings of Vorayuth’s grandfather, who was once a farmer on his family’s duck farm.
Born to poor Chinese immigrant parents who traded fruit in a town north of Bangkok, Chaleo Yoovidhya was tasked with selling antibiotics before quitting to start his own pharmaceutical company in the early 1960s.
He said the “divine inspiration” helped him create an energy drink, which he named Krating Daeng.
Austrian salesman Dietrich cured the drink with his jet lag and teamed up with Chaleo in 1984 to launch Red Bull.
While the drink is a staple for partygoers, Chaleo was deeply personal and hadn’t given an interview in 30 years when he died in March 2012 at the age of 88.
Chalerm, the eldest of two sons, took over the business empire and Red Bull Racing was born in 2005.
The family reportedly owns five multi-million pound homes in London, as well as a sumptuous enclosed space in Bangkok.
Chalerm has 11 children with his wife Daranee and one of them owns a £5. 9 million townhouse in Chicago.
Since 2001, the F1 entrepreneur has also run a vineyard in Dallas, Texas, Siam.
Given that Chalerm owns 51 per cent of Red Bull, and Austrian Mark Mateschitz retains 49 per cent, it may be the deciding factor in Horner remaining team principal.
As Geri Halliwell stood in front of her boy this weekend, wrapping her PDA at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Red Bull owner showed his support.
He and his wife Daranee were photographed laughing and joking with the Horners on the terrace, the clearest sign yet that Christian has the big boss’s ear.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has in the past described Horner as a “kind of son follower” of Chalerm.
Speaking before Horner went through Red Bull, he said: “He supports him unconditionally.
Horner said he was “absolutely confident” in his ability to weather the biggest typhoon of his life.
Only time will if he’s right.
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