Christian Horner breaks silence after being cleared of alleged ‘inappropriate behaviour’
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Embattled Red Bull team principal Christian Horner returned to the Bahrain paddock without wife Geri on Saturday ahead of the first race of the 2024 F1 season and after hundreds of WhatsApp messages allegedly written by him to a female colleague were leaked.
He was cleared on Wednesday to continue in the role following an internal probe into “inappropriate behaviour” by the F1 team’s parent company Red Bull GmbH. He has always denied the claims
But just 24 hours later, messages and a number of images apparently exchanged between Horner and the complainant were sent from an anonymous email account to 149 members of the F1 paddock– on the eve of this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Horner’s wife, Geri, has arrived in Bahrain ahead of the race on Saturday and it is reported that she will be present on the pre-race grid.
Horner said: “I will not comment on anonymous speculation, 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.”
Follow the latest news from F1 below.
CHRISTIAN HORNER – LATEST F1 NEWS
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Christian Horner latest: Red Bull respond to Jos Verstappen comments
Formula One’s crisis-hit Red Bull team says it remains “united” after Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, claimed they are “in danger of being torn apart” if Christian Horner remains in his role.
A Red Bull Racing spokesperson told the PA news agency on Sunday: “There are no issues here. The team are united and we are focused on racing.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail newspaper after Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen Snr said: “There is tension here while he (Horner) remains in position.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Mike Jones3 March 2024 22:00
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Christian Horner latest: Horner ‘absolutely’ confident he will ride out the storm
Speaking to media on the paddock, Horner said before the race: “It’s been very testing for my family but we are very strong as a family and our focus is on this race.
“It’s the start of the season, and the team have done an incredible job over the winter to be starting on pole position in the best place possible, so let’s see what we can do in the race.
“We are here to go racing and that is my job. So this is what we are focused on and this is what we are here to do.”
When asked after the race if the Red Bull team were united, Horner told Sky Sports: “Yes absolutely. We’re a very strong team, tremendous support and partners, great shareholders. You don’t achieve this type of result without this support.”
Questioned further on whether he would be in his role at the next race in seven days in Saudi Arabia, Horner replied: “Yeah absolutely, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.
Mike Jones3 March 2024 21:45
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Christian Horner latest: Max Verstappen eases pressure on team principal with F1 win
Max Verstappen delivered for Christian Horner’s crisis-hit Red Bull team by winning the opening race of the Formula One season in Bahrain on Saturday.
The build-up to the first round of the campaign here in the Gulf Kingdom has totally been overshadowed by allegations whirling around Red Bull team principal Horner.
But Horner, who was joined by his wife Geri in a show of unity ahead of Saturday’s 57-lap race, can take temporary relief from seeing Verstappen lead a Red Bull one-two, with Sergio Perez second.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took the chequered flag in third, one place ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton a disappointing fifth and seventh respectively for Mercedes. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished sixth.
Mike Jones3 March 2024 21:30
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Christian Horner latest: What happened on Saturday?
Christian Horner and his wife Geri Halliwell walked into the Bahrain Grand Prix paddock hand-in-hand on Saturday in a public show of unity after the Red Bull Formula One team boss was cleared of allegations of misconduct towards a female employee.
The 50-year-old Horner and former Spice Girls singer Halliwell looked poised as they made their way to Red Bull’s hospitality area, where they mingled with VIP guests in full view of photographers and television cameras.
Their appearance together at the season-opening race came after F1 media and key paddock figures received on Thursday an anonymous email containing a Google Drive link to purported evidence submitted to the investigation.
Mike Jones3 March 2024 21:08
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Christian Horner latest: FIA president says Horner controversy is ‘damaging to the sport’
The president of Formula 1’s governing body told the Financial Times the controversy around Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is damaging the sport, but that the FIA won’t conduct its own inquiry unless it receives a complaint.
Ahead of Saturday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Mohammed Ben Sulayem said any complaint lodged with its compliance officer would be investigated but it had not received one related to Horner’s situation and would not “jump the gun,” the newspaper reported.
“It’s damaging the sport,” Ben Sulayem told the newspaper, which added that he was speaking Friday after a meeting with Horner. “This is damaging on a human level.”
On Wednesday, the team’s parent company dismissed a complaint of alleged misconduct by Horner toward a team employee. A day later during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, a file alleged to contain evidence against Horner was emailed to nearly 200 people in the F1 paddock, including Liberty Media, F1, the FIA, the other nine team principals and multiple media outlets.
The authenticity of the files has not been verified by The Associated Press; the file came from a generic email account. Horner has denied wrongdoing and said in a statement issued Thursday that he would not “comment on anonymous speculation.”
Three-time defending champion Max Verstappen said after qualifying on pole position Friday that Horner was “fully committed to the team” but that his team principal was also “probably a little bit distracted.”
Mike Jones3 March 2024 20:50
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Christian Horner latest: Damon Hill believes the ongoing situation around Horner will be a distraction for Red Bull
Damon Hill said to Sky Sports: “In some ways the team manager’s job at a race meeting is to deal with crises, so in effect he’s got his own crises and the indications are that it’s also unsettled something in the team regarding his role in the team which is obviously something that will affect their long-term performance.
“They don’t want that, they want to keep the ship steady, especially as they’ve had so much success.
“From a driver’s point of view and a team point of view and an engineer’s point of view, they can just get on with their jobs.
“Normally they come to Christian (Horner) if there is something they have to argue over with the stewards or the organisers, of course he will be able to do that, and he will still do that but it will be a massive distraction.”
Mike Jones3 March 2024 20:30
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Christian Horner opens up on ‘testing’ week for wife Geri Halliwell and family
The Red Bull team principal was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” on Wednesday after a three-week internal probe conducted by an external lawyer, following allegations from a female colleague which were strongly refuted by Horner, before WhatsApp texts allegedly between the two parties – some sexually suggestive – were leaked to the media 24 hours later.
Yet Horner has been present in the paddock in Bahrain throughout the race weekend, including Saturday as Max Verstappen eased to a first win of the season, and the 50-year-old accompanied his Spice Girl pop star wife Geri as she entered the Bahrain International Circuit.
Mike Jones3 March 2024 20:06
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Martin Brundle demands ‘absolute conclusion’ after Christian Horner ‘leaks’
Mike Jones3 March 2024 19:45
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Christian Horner latest: Horner vows to focus on racing amid scrutiny over his Red Bull future
Christian Horner vowed to go racing after breaking his silence amid the latest allegations whirling around the Red Bull team principal.
Horner’s Formula One future is again in the spotlight after hundreds of WhatsApp messages appearing to be written by him to a female colleague were leaked.
On Wednesday, Horner was cleared to continue as Red Bull team principal following an internal probe into “inappropriate behaviour” by the F1 team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH. He has always denied the claims.
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met on Friday to discuss the next steps.
Horner was quizzed about the latest allegations as he made his way from Red Bull’s hospitality suite to the team’s garage for third practice ahead of qualifying.
“I am not going to comment on anonymous speculation from unknown sources,” he said. When asked what comes next, Horner replied: “We go racing.”
Mike Jones3 March 2024 19:23
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Christian Horner latest: Thoughts from Naomi Schiff
Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff spoke alongside Martin Brundle and said: “I echo a lot of Martin’s sentiments and I think coming into the first race of the season where there has been so much excitement around it, it’s really a shame this is casting a shadow over the weekend.
“But at the end of the day, we have to remember it’s an internal, corporate investigation. We don’t have all the information. So we leave it at that.
“At the end of the day it’s also a human story and there is some sadness to all of this. There are people who are going to be affected by this – this matter should not have been dealt with in the way it has been dealt with.”
Mike Jones3 March 2024 19:01
