Will Red Bull boss Christian Horner fall? Apparently bailed out after an internal investigation cleared him on Wednesday of allegations of “inappropriate behavior” towards an F1 team employee, he is having to defend himself again after an anonymous email on the issue was widely circulated on Thursday.
• Also read: Red Bull boss Christian Horner has been cleared of allegations of “inappropriate behavior”.
On Friday in Bahrain, he was very present in the paddock in Sakhir, where the Bahrain Grand Prix is scheduled to be held on Saturday, the season opener, AFP journalists noted. Red Bull and its star driver Max Verstappen are the big favorites for this new exercise.
On Thursday evening, a day after his “acquittal”, Christian Horner had to once again deny “anonymous speculation” about inappropriate behavior on his part after he sent an email from an anonymous sender to journalists who followed Formula 1, to motorsport officials or even to competitors teams.
The contents of this email, including the WhatsApp messages allegedly written by Horner, cannot be independently verified.
When asked by AFP, Red Bull's parent company replied that it was “a private matter between Mr Horner and another person and it would be inappropriate for Red Bull to comment on this issue”.
However, on Wednesday the Austrian company thought it had turned the tide when it announced that the internal investigation it had launched had led to it clearing Christian Horner of the allegations.
“I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and cooperated fully with it at every stage. “It was a thorough and fair investigation by an independent attorney that concluded that the lawsuit filed was dismissed,” noted Christian Horner, married to ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.
Very laconic, Red Bull's press release did not contain any details about the facts of the case. Red Bull stated that “the investigation report was confidential and contained private information about the parties and third parties involved in the investigation.” The alleged facts targeting the British leader have not been officially released by the team or the parent company .
Lack of transparency
In the small world of Formula 1, people only talk about this affair, which came to light at the beginning of February when the first article appeared in the Dutch press.
“This is a very important time for sport to ensure we remain true to our values. “We don’t know everything that happened, but we have to solve this problem because it is affecting the sport,” said Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) on Wednesday and quickly took a stand on the issues of fighting sexism and discrimination.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called for “more transparency” in this matter.
“There will still be a lot of speculation as many questions remain unanswered about the entire process,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown added before sending the anonymous email. “And that’s what those who run the sport need to really put a stop to this.”
Dutch star Max Verstappen remains discreet. When asked if he supported “100% Christian and the way he leads the team”, he was satisfied with the minimum service: “I trust the process (…), but apart from that it is important if “We talk about performance.” Of course it’s very important that everyone sticks together.”
“If the team boss disappears for some reason during one or two races, not much will happen because everyone knows what to do,” the Dutchman also replied on Wednesday. “Of course things will change if one of the top politicians is no longer there, but we are not thinking about that.”
It was Wednesday, a few hours before the verdict of the internal investigation, since “Mad Max” has been silent.