by The opening of the new Formula One season was overshadowed on Thursday after a leaked email purporting to contain images of messages between Christian Horner and the female team member who complained against him was sent to the media, staff and senior personnel within it. F1 and the sport’s governing body the FIA.
Less than 24 hours after the outcome of the investigation into Horner for alleged inappropriate behavior led to the dismissal of the Red Bull team principal and the dismissal of the complaint, the sport was once again mired in speculation and speculation following the email anonymous spread across the Paddock at the first race. of the season in Bahrain.
The email was sent from two different email addresses three separate times to the recipients and contained 79 images on a Google Drive link including what purported to be messages between Horner and the female employee who encouraged Red Bull Racing’s parent company Red Bull GmbH to initiate their complaint. investigation several weeks ago.
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While Horner and Red Bull hoped to finally return their focus to racing during the day’s second practice session in Bahrain, attention was firmly turned away from the timing screens shortly after the session began at 6.22pm local time.
The images were sent to journalists across the international press, team principals and figures within the FIA and F1 management, under the heading: “Christian Horner investigation evidence”, with the introduction to the email saying: “Following Red Bull’s recent investigation and statements you will be interested to see the attached materials”.
There is no indication of who sent the emails and the authenticity of their content cannot be proven.
Responding to the incident, Horner reiterated his denial of the allegations of inappropriate behavior made against him and reiterated that the independent investigation by English counsel had no case to answer.
“I will not comment on anonymous speculation,” he said. “But to say that I have always denied the allegations, I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and cooperated fully with it every step of the way. It was a thorough and fair investigation, conducted by an independent specialist counsel, and concluded that the complaint was dismissed. I am fully focused on the start of the season.”
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On Wednesday Red Bull GmbH announced the result of the investigation, which issued a brief statement confirming that the complaint had been dismissed but would not reveal any details about the complaint, what materials or evidence the investigation saw or the results he had to. done to protect the confidentiality of those involved.
The inquiry lasted weeks and is understood to have resulted in a 600-page report. Horner has been under scrutiny since the matter was made public on February 5, during which time he has strongly denied any wrongdoing. The decision not to release any information has sparked unease in the paddock with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff demanding transparency from the company and other senior figures within F1 also believe that after such a high profile questioning of the sport’s reputation, transparency. to ensure that the issue was dealt with properly.
Before the leaked email came to light, Wolff, who insisted the investigation should be made public because it reflects on F1 as a whole, said he did not believe it was satisfactory to close the incident without revealing any details or processes .
“There’s a woman in an organization who spoke to HR and said there was a problem, and it was investigated and yesterday, the sport got the message that it’s okay, we looked into it,” he said. “I believe the aspiration as a global sport, on such vital matters, it needs more transparency, and I wonder what the position of the sport is.”
McLaren team principal Zak Brown agreed and insisted that F1 and the governing body, the FIA, should be given access to the findings of the investigation to draw their own conclusions to ensure there was no disrepute taking it to sport.
“The sanctioning body has responsibility and authority for our sport, for our fans,” he said. “They have to make sure things are completely transparent with them. It has to be thorough, completely transparent and they come to the same conclusion that Red Bull gave and they agree with the result. Until then, speculation will continue, as there are many unanswered questions about the whole process.”
With pressure mounting on Red Bull GmbH to share the information Wolff warned that F1 had to make a commitment to prove its stated commitment to ethical behaviour.
“As a sport, we cannot afford to leave things vague and opaque on vital matters like this, because this is going to catch up with us,” he said.
F1 and the FIA have not yet commented on the outcome of the investigation or the process itself as it is understood that neither party had any information from the inquiry.
Earlier in the day Horner indicated that he wanted to put the events of the previous week behind him and get back to running his team.
The parent company’s statement did not address whether Horner would remain as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing, leading to speculation about his future role with the team. He did not speak formally in Bahrain, where he was on the pit wall overseeing his team’s first training session of the new season but was unequivocal when asked about his future.
“It’s really good to be here. I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “It’s an honor to lead this team and I’m really excited to be here defending our world titles.”
