by Christian Horner has maintained nothing but innocence during Red Bull’s investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour, and on Wednesday he was finally exonerated. He will certainly feel vindicated and his team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, which initiated the inquiry, clearly expects this to draw a line on the matter. They do not deserve such kindness.
A female employee’s complaint against Horner was dismissed after an investigation that lasted nearly eight weeks. There was speculation surrounding it, but nothing was made public in the inquiry, including the nature of the complaint, Horner’s defence, his conclusions or how they were reached.
Related: Christian Horner was cleared following an investigation into behavior at Red Bull
Red Bull GmbH, which issued the statement, insisted from the outside that it was a private investigation. At his conclusion, they stated that the information he had gathered was confidential and that they would make no further comment out of “respect for all”.
This remarkable lack of transparency was understandable while it was going on but now, with the full report in hand and a definitive decision reached, it is a completely untenable conclusion to declare that the matter is closed to all, except maybe Red Bull GmbH.
On Wednesday, before the announcement, Lewis Hamilton, astute and appreciative of the bigger picture as ever, noted why the decision itself did not matter.
“We must always do more to make sport and the environment in which people work feel safe and inclusive,” he said.
“Yes [the investigation] It needs to be resolved as it hangs over the sport and it will be very interesting to see how it is dealt with in terms of the effect it may or may not have on the sport moving forward. It’s a really important time for sport to make sure we stand true to our values.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, had already asked for transparency from Red Bull and the investigation because it was “a question for all of F1”. Crucially, with Ford set to join Red Bull Racing as an engine partner in 2026, Ford chief executive Jim Farley wrote to the team expressing frustration at the “complete lack of transparency with us to corporate partners” and that he hoped he “full account of all the results”.
I wonder if Farley got the full account or if he was denied as well. If so he will ask for answers and if they are given to him why not the general public?
As it is now, without revealing any details, it is not possible to judge what happened. Indeed, even very senior figures in the sport have expressed dismay, noting that it is difficult to comment or confirm that this is a satisfactory closure when there is no knowledge of what happened or how the conclusions.
Even there is still no official explanation of the full nature of the complaint. That simple detail would immediately put to rest some of the more lurid rumors still doing the rounds within F1.
This is not a good look for the sport which has been hanging on for weeks but has now been said to have been resolved to the satisfaction of Red Bull, nothing to see here so move on.
But that still doesn’t add up. Red Bull GmbH was acting a little out of character when they announced the investigation publicly in the first place. Their modus operandi in these circumstances is usually to say nothing, which they might have done before doing the whole process behind closed doors. They chose not to do it but now they have hit the hats again.
A strange agenda and one that fits the theory, as advanced by Horner’s supporters, that the way he was handled was part of a power play orchestrated by certain elements at Red Bull in Austria aimed at destabilizing Horner or worth removing.
If that was the case, it was usually clumsy, ill-considered, a blunt instrument that became very sensitive and very embarrassing. Lack of exposure could be an additional reason for this if it was. Again, without any information judgment is all but impossible.
At the launch of the Red Bull car two weeks ago, where Horner once again adamantly insisted he had done nothing wrong, he appeared to deny wrongdoing again, insisting he could say no more because he had the “process in progress”.
On Wednesday before the decision was announced, Red Bull world champion Max Verstappen said he had “confidence in the process”. That process is now complete, but you can’t trust any events if you don’t know anything about them. This must be clear to Horner, Red Bull and Verstappen.
If Red Bull, and Formula One as a whole, intend to uphold their values as Hamilton rightly suggested they should, this conclusion is not far-fetched.
