Sport

Christian Horner accuses senior F1 figures of taking advantage of recent allegations

Female Red Bull employee who alleged that Horner had engaged in inappropriate behaviour has been suspended by parent company

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty
Giles Richards
Thu Mar 07 2024 - 19:43

Christian Horner has accused senior figures in Formula One of taking advantage of the huge controversy over allegations of inappropriate behaviour in which he has been embroiled and from which he has been exonerated but which has left his career in F1 hanging in the balance.

On the day the female employee who raised the allegations complaint against the 50-year-old was suspended by the Red Bull team, the beleaguered team principal blamed the media for exaggerating the interest in the furore and inferred that others in the sport were looking to capitalise while he was seriously destabilised in his role.

Horner has always emphatically denied any wrongdoing throughout the controversy which was first made public on February 5th. An independent investigation led by an external barrister cleared him on February 28th.

However only a day later on Thursday of last week a leaked email including messages purporting to be between Horner and the complainant drew enormous attention to the episode which, speaking before this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he believed was both unwarranted and which he suggested other teams were seeking to turn to their advantage.

READ MORE

“The only reason this has gained so much attention is because of the leakage and the attention that there has been drawn in the media,” he said. “Which has been very trying in many respects, particularly for my family because it has all been focussed very much in one direction.

“What has happened then after that is that others have looked to take advantage of it. F1 is a competitive business and elements have looked to benefit from it and that is perhaps the not so pretty side of our industry.”

Other team principals, notably Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and the CEO of McLaren Zak Brown, have insisted there should have been transparency around the investigation and its findings made public in order for there to be a satisfactory resolution.

Both have criticised the damage the affair was doing to the sport, which has made very public commitments to diversity and inclusivity in recent years, and they warned it would continue to do so if the process that had been followed was not made public.

The call for transparency is one understood to be shared by both F1 and the FIA, both of which have requested to see the findings of the investigation, which was instigated by Red Bull Racing’s parent company Red Bull GmbH.

[ My dad is not a liar – Max Verstappen defends father amid Christian Horner claim ]

Horner was exonerated by an independent investigation, carried out by a KC but it is understood that when the complainant was suspended it was based on the findings of the same investigation which cleared Horner.

Red Bull and Horner have yet to reveal any details of the investigation, including the name of the barrister who carried it out because of confidentiality agreements with the parties involved. Nor have they made any comment on the contents of the leaked email, whose contents remain officially unverified.

In Jeddah, Horner also declined to elaborate on anything involving the suspension, including the reasons behind it, while Red Bull have yet to divulge the process the female employee – who is understood to be suspended on full pay – will now face.

Christian Horner said the controversy around allegations made against him had taken a toll on both him and his family. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Christian Horner said the controversy around allegations made against him had taken a toll on both him and his family. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

“I am afraid I can’t comment on anything that is confidential between an employee and the company,” Horner said.

The employee involved is believed to have received the official legal letter informing her of the decision of the investigation at the start of this week and has five days to lodge an appeal.

Horner insisted in Saudi Arabia that as far as he was concerned the matter was all but closed and that it was time to move on, albeit while once more questioning the interest it has garnered.

“An awful lot has been made of this,” he said. “Obviously of great interest in different elements of the media for different reasons. The time now is to look forward and draw a line under it. We are here to go racing, the time now is to focus on track, on the cars and the drivers.”

On track in Saudi Arabia the world champion Max Verstappen, who utterly dominated the first round in Bahrain, was on top at the first practice, two tenths up on Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. In the more representative night running of FP2, Alonso was quickest, two-tenths clear of Mercedes’ George Russell, with Verstappen in third.

- Guardian