Hours after Red Bull “dismissed” the grievance against Christian Horner, an anonymous email containing a link to messages involving the Red Bull boss and the victim, was sent to Formula 1 personnel and media. This caused havoc in the F1 fraternity and now F1 and FIA stepped up to intervene in the not-so-good situation.
According to RacingNews365, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem are all set to meet in Bahrain to discuss Horner’s situation. The ongoing ordeal hurt the reputation of the sport to a great extent and Liberty Media, being an advocate of a fine reputation, could not wait anymore but to look at the matter closely.
The mail that was sent to nearly 150 people involved in the sport contained chats of the two people involved. Therefore, it is very likely that Domenicali and Ben Sulayem have seen all the 79 files sent on Thursday. The Horner ordeal has been going on for a month now and the recent leak took it to a worst possible situation both for the British boss and his team.
| A Google drive containing WhatsApp messages, and other photos of evidence against Christian Horner has been sent from an anonymous email to hundreds of journalists, other team principals, Liberty Media, Stefano Domenicali, and many others.
[@JennaFryer]#F1 pic.twitter.com/cLm11OaSDP
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 29, 2024
Out of all the people who received the mail, none of them could verify the authenticity of the chats. While many claim the images in the leaked texts contain the use of Artificial Intelligence, others are reluctant to believe that Horner is not guilty.
Nonetheless, Horner stayed with his denial. Like previously, the 50-year-old denied the allegations and did not want to comment on any anonymous speculations. He also added how he fully cooperated and respected the integrity of the independent investigation, as per the BBC.
How did the F1 paddock react to Christian Horner’s ordeal?
Once the allegations went public, Red Bull Racing’s parent company in Austria, Red Bull GmbH took immediate action to put Christian Horner into an independent investigation. Weeks later, the Austrian company published the verdict of the investigation and found the 50-year-old not guilty.
In their public statement, they also claimed that the investigation was fair and true to facts. However, both experts and fans have given mixed perspectives on the verdict. Renowned figures like Toto Wolff and Zak Brown are expecting more transparency from Red Bull, as the former labeled their statement as “basic, vague, and opaque”.
| Kym Illman via Instagram:
“I am told that Christian Horner is on a private flight right now that has stopped in Austria to pick up Helmut Marko and will be landing here in Bahrain in a couple of hours.
“A decision about Christian’s future is expected to be handed down… pic.twitter.com/IhRN3fmgXP
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) February 28, 2024
Speaking about this, Brown, the McLaren boss said that there are many rumors and questions left to address. Moreover, he expects wholehearted transparency from the governing body on Horner’s accusations.
Brown also wants the FIA and F1 to take steps to convince fans to believe the same as Red Bull believes Horner to be innocent. Toto Wolff also mentioned the same in his statement.
The Mercedes boss while expecting more transparency from Red Bull questioned, “I believe that with the aspiration as a global sport on such critical topics, it needs more transparency. And I wonder what the sport’s position is?”
