Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has reiterated his denial of allegations of inappropriate behaviour after the leak of material purporting to be the alleged evidence in the investigation into his conduct.
Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of Formula 1’s reigning constructors’ champions, announced on Wednesday that Horner had been cleared after allegations had been made against him by a female colleague, who retains the right to appeal.
Horner denied the allegations throughout the process and remained in his dual roles of team principal and chief executive while the external investigation was carried out by a specialist barrister.
With Horner present at the second practice session of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday, material purporting to be the alleged evidence in the investigation was leaked to numerous media organisations and F1 team principals from an anonymous email account.
Later on Thursday evening, a team spokesperson read a statement from Horner to gathered media at the Bahrain International Circuit. The spokesperson said the statement was “not representative of Red Bull Racing”.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner speaks for the first time after allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him were dismissed. The complainant has the right to appeal the verdict
“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations,” the statement said.
“I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way. It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made.
“I remain fully focused on the start of the season.”
Red Bull GmbH’s statement on Wednesday said that it was confident the external investigation had been “fair, rigorous and impartial”.
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Sky F1’s Simon Lazenby, Martin Brundle, and Naomi Schiff discuss the potential impact of the investigation into Christian Horner on the Red Bull team
The Austrian company added: “The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and therefore we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned.”
On Thursday morning, Horner had given his first interview since the allegations had been dismissed, telling Sky Sports News that he was “pleased that the process is over” and that the team was “focused on the season ahead”.
Wolff, Brown call for F1 bosses to review Horner investigation
The investigation into the allegations against Horner have dominated the build-up to the new F1 season, overshadowing the start of Red Bull’s defence of the constructors’ title and Max Verstappen’s quest for a fourth successive drivers’ crown.
Before the leak of the alleged investigation material, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and McLaren’s Zak Brown had earlier on Thursday called on Formula 1 and the FIA to review the Red Bull investigation.
Mercedes team principal Wolff said: “Well I just read the statement, which was pretty basic, I would say.
“My personal opinion is we can’t really look behind the curtain. At the end of the day, there is a lady in an organisation that has spoken to HR and said there is an issue. It was investigated and yesterday the sport has received a message, ‘it’s all fine. We’ve looked at it.’
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Team bosses Toto Wolff and Zak Brown have called for more ‘transparency’ over the investigation into allegations against Christian Horner which have been dismissed. The complainant has the right to appeal the verdict
“And I believe that with the aspirations as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what the sport’s position is.
“We are competitors, we are a team and we can have our own personal opinions or not, but it’s more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to assess what is right in that situation and what is wrong.”
McLaren chief executive Brown had joined Wolff during last week’s pre-season testing in calling for transparency and urgency with the investigation, and this time said that more information was required for the sport to “be able to draw a line under” the situation.
“I read this statement. I think from what I’ve seen there continues to be a lot of rumours and speculation, questions,” Brown said.
“I think the sanctioning body has a responsibility and authority to our sport, to our officials. I think all of us in Formula 1 are ambassadors for the sport on and off the track, like you see in other sports, and so I think they need to make sure that things have been fully transparent with them.
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Lewis Hamilton described the investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner as ‘a really important moment’
“And I don’t know what those conversations are and that needs to be thorough, fully transparent, and that they come to the same conclusion that has been given by Red Bull, and that they’ve agreed with the outcome.
“But I think until then, there’ll continue to be speculation because there are a lot of unanswered questions about the whole process.
“So I think that’s what’s needed by those that run the sport to really be able to draw a line under it. Until then, I think there’ll continue to be some level of speculation by people and I don’t think that’s healthy for the sport.”
Formula 1 released a statement on February 18 urging Red Bull to clarify the situation at the earliest possible opportunity, while the sport’s governing body, the FIA, a day later said that it would not comment until the investigation was concluded.
Neither Formula 1 or the FIA had made any further comment on Red Bull’s investigation into the allegations against Horner at the time of his statement on Thursday evening.
How Horner investigation evolved
Horner has been in charge of Red Bull Racing since it formed in 2005 and has led the squad to seven drivers’ titles and six constructors’ triumphs in 19 seasons.
He attended an interview on February 9 with the external specialist barrister carrying out the investigation, but no resolution on the matter was reached at that stage.
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Following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour, Christian Horner defends his position at Red Bull by saying ‘it’s business as usual’
Attending the team’s car launch six days later at their Milton Keynes base, Horner addressed the media for the first time after the allegations had become public, and reiterated his denial.
He also spoke in the team bosses’ press conference during pre-season testing on February 23 before Red Bull GmbH cleared Horner after allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him.
Having returned the UK after testing, Horner flew back out to Bahrain on Wednesday ahead of the opening sessions of the season on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s race.