Lawyers representing Christian Horner reportedly tried to reach a settlement with an employee he is alleged to have sent inappropriate sexual messages.
Red Bull Formula One Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner is battling to keep his job amid an internal investigation over an accusation of “inappropriate behavior” made against him by a female employee.
While the investigation is ongoing, Horner remains the Red Bull Team Principal and CEO and has refuted the accusations made against him. He was present at the 2024 car’s launch on Thursday.
Now according to fresh reports, Christian Horner made a settlement offer of £650,000 to a journalist working for Dutch publication De Telegraaf prior to the public disclosure of allegations of sexual misconduct involving the team boss lodged by a female Red Bull employee.
This is a far cry from the initially reported accusations, which focused on Horner’s ‘controlling behaviour’.
According to De Telegraaf, Horner sent the employee numerous sexually suggestive messages over a prolonged period of time. The employee’s private attorney allegedly gathered the messages and used them as evidence when the external barrister heard the case in December 2023.
De Telegraaf claims that Horner’s lawyers attempted to reach a settlement with a payment of £650,000 GBP, and that senior management at Red Bull GmbH was aware of the matter.
Horner sent the employee several sexually suggestive messages over a long period of time, and rumours surrounding the story were making the rounds in the F1 paddock during the 2023 season.
Since then, Jos Verstappen is said to have leaked the information to the Dutch press, according to Motorsport-Total.com, and Helmut Marko has not yet defended his colleague in response to issue. It has also been reported that his relationship with Adrian Newey is in shambles.
There are rumors that Horner is under the support of Chalerm Yoovidhya, a 51 percent shareholder in Red Bull, despite possible conflicts between Horner, Marko, and other important members of the racing team such as director of Red Bull GmbH Oliver Mintzlaff.
The 50-year-old was questioned about the earlier accusations during the Red Bull 2024 car unveiling on Thursday. He maintained that he had not given thought to resigning from his position and that he would continue to serve as the team boss at the Bahrain Grand Prix season opener on March 2.
“Inevitably there has been a distraction, but the team are very together and everybody’s focused on the season ahead,” Horner told the press at the Red Bull launch event. “So it’s been very much business as normal. And yeah, the support has been fantastic.
“My focus is very much on the season ahead, it has been business as normal. Obviously there is an investigation that I’m complying with and working with fully. So that is very much going on in the background whilst preparing for the season ahead.
“I think that the team are gearing up for the season ahead and we’re in good shape. We’re fully focused on going racing, looking forward to being in Bahrain next week and seeing the RB20 run. And the one thing that focuses everybody’s attention is the car, we’re very united and together in that focus.
“We’ve always had tremendous support from the shareholders since Dietrich‘s passing, the shareholders have been incredibly supportive. It’s business as normal, my focus is very much on the year ahead and the racing ahead of us.”
