The controversy surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is taking a new twist each day. As per the latest report from F1-Insider, Horner and the lawyer of Red Bull’s 51% stakeholder, Chalerm Yoovidhya, have terminated the female employee who made allegations against the F1 team boss.
The move, however, could end up backfiring. That is because the complainant is reportedly ready to take the matter to an English Labor Court. Moreover, the report also claims the complainant has the backing of Red Bull’s 49% shareholders: Mark Matschitz and CEO Oliver Mintzslaff.
Amid the controversy surrounding Horner, other reports have claimed that there is a division between the two factions of Red Bull GmbH. Ever since the start of the controversy, reports claimed that the Thai majority shareholders are strongly backing Horner. The Matschitz faction, on the other hand, are in favor of Horner’s exit.
Reports that lawyers of the Thai Red Bull shareholders, RBR and Horner have officially terminated the employee who instigated the complaint against Horner. Unsurprisingly, the report says that she wants to sue.
If true, this is an absolute disgrace. #F1 https://t.co/qligQdSEpG
— Rob Myers (@RobLMyers) March 6, 2024
Amid such reports, Jos Verstappen, the father of Max Verstappen, has made it clear that it would be better for Red Bull to sack Horner. Jos has claimed that Horner is playing the victim and is himself the root cause of the problem. The 52-year-old Dutchman also called for Horner’s exit while warning against an impending division in the team.
A recap of Christian Horner controversy
On February 5, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf made sensational claims of initiation of an internal investigation against Christian Horner. Soon, Red Bull GmbH, the parent company, confirmed the claims of an investigation.
While they did not reveal the nature of the allegations, rumors initially claimed the charge pertained to “inappropriate behavior“. However, as time passed, reports claimed the allegations were much more serious and involved “sexual misconduct“.
The parent company hired a legal expert to oversee the investigations and hand over the observations to the board. A day before the start of the Bahrain GP, Red Bull GmbH, via a public statement, “dismissed the grievance” against Horner based on the said investigation.
Just when things started to calm down, the controversy took a turn as 149 individuals received an anonymous email, containing a Google Drive link to 79 files that were claimed to be the evidence against Horner.
The files allegedly contained chats between Horner and the complainant. The recipients were FIA-accredited journalists and high-ranking F1 and FIA officials.
: Red Bull’s Horner denies misconduct amidst alleged evidence uproar, dismissing “anonymous speculation.” Investigation cleared him after wide distribution of evidence, not verified by AP. Horner asserts cooperation and focus on season start.#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/pvROOov1sE
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) February 29, 2024
While the authenticity of the said evidence remains under question, Horner has continued to deny the allegations. Meanwhile, team principals Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur have asked for transparency in cases pertaining to such grave concerns to uphold the image of Formula 1 as a sport.
