Christian Horner is set for another blow in his bid to stay on at Red Bull as a 19-page magazine article into allegations of inappropriate behaviour will come out later this week. The 50-year-old strenuously denies the allegations and is expected to be at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend.
Horner was grilled for eight hours by a specialist barrister last month as part of a comprehensive investigation launched by Red Bull GmbH’s Austrian headquarters. The long-serving F1 team boss was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing and the complaint, made by a female Red Bull employee, was dismissed.
But that was just the start. WhatsApp messages and photos, allegedly from Horner to an unnamed person, were leaked to journalists from an anonymous source last week via a Google Drive.
Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, in which Red Bull notched an impressive one-two finish, Horner reiterated his denial of the allegations. “I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way,” he added.
Now, BusinessF1 Magazine – a publication with 5,000 readers – is poised to run a 19-page investigation into the saga which will include new allegations and name the Red Bull boss’ accuser. Horner’s camp have dismissed the piece as ‘full of inaccuracies’.
The article was leaked online during the weekend and will be published officially later this week. Its author, Tom Rubython, stood for UKIP in the 2015 general election and claims to be ‘probably the most sued journalist in Britain’.
“[Red Bull] are so busy chasing mainstream media, they forgot our magazine is coming out,” Rubython said. “Our magazine is usually about business, sponsorship and engines — a good old scandal is very rare. If I’d put the claims to Christian I’d have had an immediate injunction or attempted injunction. [Horner’s lawyers] are going to have a problem if they go for us. Whether they will or not, I do have a certain reputation of not caving.”
The new document could bring fresh heat onto Horner, whose situation is already precarious after Jos Verstappen, father of Red Bull’s star driver Max, publicly called for him to step down while in Bahrain.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart,” the former F1 racer told The Daily Mail. “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.”
Horner has spearheaded Red Bull’s F1 operation since 2005 and reportedly counts the drinks brand’s majority shareholder, Chalerm Yoovidhya, among his supporters, having posed for photos with him in Bahrain.
