Christian Horner finds himself in hot waters after several reports of inappropriate conduct were labeled against him. The reports alleged that the Red Bull boss engaged himself in a “controlling behavior” towards a female member of staff, which he denied. Therefore, he would have to face an independent lawyer now for the investigation. Horner’s involvement in such a situation is quite surprising for many. But not for journalist Matthew Syed, who found a similar pattern in the Red Bull’s honcho’s behavior for a long time.
Syed from The Times believes that Horner’s behavior has given him ample cause for concern. The Red Bull boss perfected the art of playing victim and aggressor at the same time, wrote Syed in his column with The Times. Therefore, he thinks that such reprehensible behavior must be called out.
While explaining, Syed mentioned Ted Kravitz and Sky Sports’ incident with Red Bull and Max Verstappen. During a pit report, Kravitz mentioned that Lewis Hamilton had been “robbed” in the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. This was something Horner did not take well.
He claimed that it was a direct dig at the team and decided to boycott the broadcaster. Hence, displaying both victim and aggressor behavior, all at the same time. Keeping this aside, Syed then mentioned the phase when the FIA punished and fined Red Bull for breaching the cost cap in 2021.
As the F1 world laughed and enjoyed the Red Bull punishment, Horner referred to the punishment as “draconian” and “enormous.” He also said that the punishment [monetary and reduction of wind tunnel time] would harm his team by a huge margin. In reality, nothing of that sort was visible as Red Bull were extremely dominant in 2023.
Furthermore, Syed’s other find was how Horner pulled out the example of kids’ bullying at the playground. This was after FIA held Red Bull guilty. He emphasized that the employees’ children have been getting bullied because their parents worked for them.
What’s the Christian Horner controversy?
There are accusations of Christian Horner engaging in inappropriate behavior with a fellow worker within Red Bull. This created havoc within the F1 world, only a few days after Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari flooded the sport.
Soon after the allegations went public, the higher management at Red Bull took things into their own hands. They advised Horner to step down from the post in a friendly way, which the British boss denied. To investigate the matter in detail, the highest authority in Austria appointed an independent investigative lawyer to question the Red Bull boss.
The investigation will happen on Friday, 9th February. The team wants to wrap everything up before they release their 2024 F1 challenger RB20 on February 15. However, Horner’s stance on this did not change. The 50-year-old denied all the accusations categorically and has not stepped down from the post of the team principal as of yet.
