- Christian Horner was accused of “inappropriate behavior” by a colleague
- The 50-year-old Red Bull boss has vigorously rejected the allegations made against him
- Formula 1 called on Red Bull to clarify Horner's future as quickly as possible
Formula 1 owners tonight demanded that Christian Horner's future as Red Bull team boss be “clarified as quickly as possible”.
The 50-year-old's role has been in jeopardy since he was accused of “inappropriate behavior” earlier this month. These allegations escalated when Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf claimed on Friday that he had also commented on allegations of a sexual nature.
Horner strongly denies the allegations and also wants a quick verdict.
At Red Bull's car launch in Milton Keynes last Thursday he insisted he would be at the opening race in Bahrain on March 2nd.
F1, owned by American conglomerate Liberty Media, said: “We have determined that Red Bull has launched an independent investigation into the internal allegations at Red Bull Racing.”
Formula 1 has called for Christian Horner's Red Bull future to be “clarified at the earliest possible opportunity”.
Horner – who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell – is fighting to save his career after allegations of “inappropriate behavior” were made against him. He denies the allegations
“We hope that the matter will be resolved as quickly as possible following a fair and thorough process and will have no further comment at this time.”
No one involved in the investigation will set a time frame for the trial, which will be led by a King's Counsel, an outside arbitrator appointed by parent company Red Bull GmbH, the energy drink company that was founded in 2005 Formula 1 started.
Testing begins in Bahrain on Wednesday and Horner will be there again.
A source told Mail Sport that the lawyer's report is near or near completion; Another saying, however, says that a verdict will not be issued until Friday at the earliest.
These findings will be presented to Red Bull's board of directors to decide on Horner's position.
When presenting the Red Bull car for the new season, Horner said he was going nowhere
The numbers in sport are divided on the likelihood of Horner remaining in the post, with it sitting at around 50-50 as of Sunday evening.
Horner was the architect of remarkable successes: 13 world championship titles, drivers' and constructors' championships, led by Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.