(Motorsport-Total.com) – The air is getting thinner for Christian Horner. The head of the Austrian-British Formula 1 racing team Red Bull Racing is currently the subject of an investigation initiated by Red Bull GmbH by an independent investigative lawyer. The accusation: inappropriate behavior towards a member of the team.
A newspaper is again making serious allegations against Red Bull team boss Christian Horner
On Thursday, however, Horner’s world seemed to be in order for a short time, at least from the outside, when, despite the whispers behind the scenes in Formula 1, he appeared in public as team boss at the launch of the Red Bull RB20 for the 2024 season.
In the run-up to the event there were voices that Horner might no longer be team boss at the presentation.
But now the Dutch newspaper has De Telegraaf, which got the affair rolling with a first publication on February 5th, poured additional oil on the fire. With a re-releasewhich specifies the allegations against Horner and raises new ones.
For the first time, the newspaper addresses the allegations in more detail
Among other things, that Horner is said to have tried to cover up the matter. De Telegraaf claims to have first confronted Horner with the allegations on February 2nd to give him the opportunity to respond.
Within 24 hours of this contact, the employee is said to have received an offer from Horner’s lawyer for 650,000 British pounds (equivalent to 760,000 euros) to settle the matter amicably. Hush money, presumably.
The story also specifies for the first time what the allegations are specifically about. Among other things, Horner sent the employee inappropriate messages “regularly and over a considerable period of time.”
The employee (name known to the editors) apparently documented this news and reported it to Red Bull GmbH Compliance in Fuschl at the end of 2023. They commissioned an independent investigative lawyer to carry out an investigation. Which has been public since January 5th through a Red Bull statement on the matter.
Horner is not considering voluntary resignation
Then, according to research by Motorsport-Total.com, Horner was offered an opportunity to get out of the matter without losing face. The plan for this was already in the drawer. Horner would resign as team boss of his own free will, and the official reason could have been health problems.
Incidentally, an account that is disputed by sources close to Horner. There was never such an offer for voluntary resignation.
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But Horner, apparently convinced that he was in the right, did not take up this offer. On February 9th, he was questioned by the investigating lawyer, according to media reports, for more than eight hours. And in the course of this questioning he was confronted with a dossier that was created based on the employee’s allegations.
How watertight is the Dutch story?
De Telegraaf has now gained knowledge of the contents of the dossier. This is what the newspaper, which is now reporting specifically on the nature of the allegations for the first time, claims in its latest release.
What’s remarkable, by the way, is that if the allegations made in the story aren’t true, the editor would make himself legally vulnerable. That De Telegraaf publishing the story without legal advice is difficult to imagine in the professional media business. But: According to information from Motorsport-Total.com Horner has now taken legal action against the publication.
The presumption of innocence still applies to Horner. On Thursday he gave the English pay-TV channel Sky an interview, in which he literally said: “I deny all the allegations that have been made against me. But of course I am cooperating with the investigation, which will hopefully be completed in the near future.”
Horner doesn’t want to know anything about a power struggle behind the scenes at Red Bull, as was recently suggested by former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone: “No, that’s not correct.” And there are “no” differences at all between him and the Verstappen family: “I was with Jos and Max a few days ago at Silverstone. Max is fully focused on his job and he is very supportive.”
However, well-informed sources stick to this: The relationship between Horner and Jos Verstappen is said to have broken down. The fact that the new story that is now giving Horner a headache appeared in the Netherlands, the home of the Verstappens, at least does not help to dispel this suspicion.
Those involved do not want to make any additional statements
Red Bull Racing does not officially comment on the published story. Jos Verstappen was killed on Friday afternoon by Motorsport-Total.com contacted. He also does not want to comment on the matter. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant, turned off his cell phone. Red Bull’s position is clear: until the investigation is completed, there is nothing to say.
Ford, which will be Red Bull Powertrains’ partner in Formula 1 from 2026, has now commented. Motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook told the news agency Associated Press: “As a family-run business, and as a company that holds itself to very high standards of behavior and integrity, we expect the same from our partners.”
“We have the impression that Red Bull is taking the situation very seriously, and that’s what we’ve been told. And of course they’re also concerned about their brand. That’s why they’ve launched an independent investigation, and as long as we don’t know what’s going on comes out, it is too early for us to comment on the matter.”