Christian Horner has explicitly said he will not comment in response to a purported leak of text messages and images related to the Red Bull investigation into his conduct.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner brushed off anonymous speculation following an extensive leak of documents allegedly related to the Red Bull investigation into his alleged misconduct on Thursday.
The 50-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this week following an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee. However, an anonymous email address leaked a string of texts and images he allegedly sent with the documents being sent to journalists, senior F1 personnel, and team bosses.
The Google Drive folder purportedly holding messages and images exchanged between Horner and his colleague was released after the conclusion of Bahrain’s free practice 2.
Horner, who has been strenuous in his denial throughout the process, issued a response on Thursday evening.
“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation,” he said. “But to reiterate I have always denied the allegations, 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.”
Not much about the Horner case is known for sure, even at this point. The details of the investigation and the accusations remain unclear despite Red Bull’s official announcements to the contrary.
Although Horner has declined to be pushed into addressing the images and messages that were leaked to the media before being made public, they seem damning at this point but are yet to be confirmed.
However, it is widely believed that the accusations center around the team figurehead’s alleged inappropriate and dominating behaviour towards a colleague who is lower on the organizational hierarchy.
In the void created by the death of firm founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, there have been claims of sexual misconduct, a £650,000 settlement, and a power battle between Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko.
Whatever the case, Horner’s situation couldn’t have unfolded at a more damaging stage. Even without the offseason narratives, the Bahrain Grand Prix would have attracted a lot of attention since, unlike for the better part of the second half of 2023, F1 fans had not yet become weary of Max Verstappen’s dominance.
Given that it’s uncommon for a season-opening race to draw more attention off the track than on it, the results of this Saturday’s grand prix will seem insignificant in comparison to any further repercussions that will have taken place by then.
