Christian Horner will be questioned on Friday as part of an independent investigation into his conduct after allegations of inappropriate controlling behaviour were made against the Red Bull team principal.
Horner has denied the claims and will meet the external barrister tasked with leading the investigation at Red Bull Racing headquarters in Milton Keynes at the end of the week. The hope is to conclude the investigation before the launch of the 2024 car next week.
The 50-year-old is fighting to save his career following a complaint believed to have been made by a female member of staff and taken up with the team’s owner, energy drink manufacturer Red Bull, rather than the Formula One team itself. Red Bull Racing has still to make any formal comment regarding the allegations.
The team’s owner confirmed on Monday that it had launched an investigation, adding: “The company takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practical.”
Horner, who was attending a meeting of the F1 Commission in London on Monday afternoon, is understood to have told fellow attendees that there was no truth to the accusations.
He had made a further emphatic rebuttal following the publication of the allegations, stating: “I completely deny these claims”. The parent company, Red Bull, has said making any further statements would not be appropriate while the investigation, being carried out by an external barrister, is ongoing.
Horner, who will remain in his post while the investigation is carried out, has been team principal at Red Bull since the drink manufacturer bought the team when it was Jaguar in 2004. He is now entering his 20th season with them and has enjoyed a remarkable period of success but it is understood that his position would be untenable if the allegations against him are proved.
The Williams team principal, James Vowles, said that while he did not have any insight into the allegations themselves or the “significance of what has happened” that the sport had to take all such issues seriously.
“All I can say is should this happen on our guard we would be entirely supportive in terms of fixing it and making sure we have a culture that is accepting of everyone,” he added in an interview with Bloomberg when questioned about the allegations. “It means we all have to look at each other in the mirror and make sure we are posing the right questions internally and acting in the way we can only be proud of, not today but in the next 10 years.”
Reports have noted that there is believed to be an internal power struggle in the background at Red Bull Racing amid the drama. Horner was the youngest F1 team principal when Red Bull appointed him in 2005. He is now the longest serving principal in the paddock and has steered Red Bull racing to extraordinary success during that period.
They have won six constructors’ world championships and seven drivers’ titles and have enjoyed remarkable dominance over the last two seasons, both won comfortably by Max Verstappen, with Red Bull claiming 21 wins from 22 races in 2023. Horner was instrumental in bringing both designer Adrian Newey to Red Bull and Verstappen to F1, when he was just 17-years-old. – Guardian
