According to reports, Christian Horner made a settlement offer of £650,000 to a writer for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf prior to the public disclosure of allegations of sexual misbehavior involving the principal of a Formula 1 team from a Red Bull employee.
As an inquiry into reports of “inappropriate behavior” continues ahead of pre-season testing, which gets underway in Bahrain on Wednesday, February 21, Horner refutes the accusations made by a female Red Bull employee.
As reported by De Telegraaf, who initially revealed the information on the Red Bull team manager, Horner faced allegations of sexual assault in December 2023.
According to the Dutch media site, Horner sent the employee several sexually provocative messages over a long period of time, and rumors about them were making the rounds in the F1 paddock during the 2023 season.
Since the De Telegraaf disclosed the details of the independent Red Bull inquiry, Horner has refuted all of the allegations.
Helmut Marko has not yet defended his colleague when prompted to react, according to Motorsport-Total.com, which alleged that Jos Verstappen leaked the information to the Dutch press. He even allegedly has a strained connection with Adrian Newey.
There are rumors that Horner is supported by 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 Oliver Mintzlaff, director of Red Bull GmbH.
At Red Bull’s car launch in Milton Keynes on Thursday, Horner, along with the rest of the squad, including Newey, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez, performed media responsibilities.
Despite accusations that surfaced in early February, the 50-year-old, who has led the F1 team since its formation in 2005, maintains that he is receiving adequate assistance.
Horner told the media, including Total-Motorsport.com, “It was inevitable that there would be a distraction, but the team is very together and everybody’s focused on the season ahead.” Thus, everything has been going pretty much as usual. Indeed, the assistance has been outstanding.
We’re in good form and the club seems to be getting ready for the upcoming season. Our entire attention is on racing, and we can’t wait to visit Bahrain the following week and watch the RB20 run. And the automobile is the one thing that has everyone’s attention; we are all really unified and focused on it.
The stockholders have been very supportive since Dietrich’s passing and have always been there for us. Everything is going as usual, and my attention is mostly on the upcoming year and the race that lies ahead of us.
Due to Ramadan, Horner intends to attend the first two races of the season on Saturdays, which is the Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place from February 29 to March 2.
If Horner were to go, whether willingly or not, Red Bull’s sporting director and expert on Formula One regulations, Jonathan Wheatley, is reportedly in the running to take over. Wheatley, who had previously worked for Renault and Benetton, joined the team in 2006.
Max Verstappen, the three-time world champion, says he is focused on defending his title and has not been impacted by the accusations made against Horner.
Verstappen remarked, “I can tell you that it’s the same as always.” “I have no idea who enjoys writing these kinds of stuff. But it seems like it always is with Christian.
As for me, I’m concentrating a lot on my own performance to prepare, get in shape, and be ready to drive the car while talking with the engineers. Furthermore, even though Formula One is not my main passion, I try not to think about it too much at home except while I’m doing my assigned training.
