Red Bull's unity 'has never been stronger'.
As the Bahrain Grand Prix approached, Christian Horner thought he was out of the woods.
Cleared by the internal investigation of his team after accusations of “inappropriate behavior” towards a colleague, the boss of Red Bull said, in front of the press, “happy” to be at the edge of the circuit from Sakhir and ready to start the season with the support of its teams.
But this façade of serenity collapsed this Thursday.
While the drivers were competing in free practice 2, a long and curious anonymous email arrived in the mailboxes of nearly 200 people present or not in Bahrain.
Among them, the nine other team bosses, the leaders of Formula 1 and a large number of media.
Inside this email: screenshots of private messages, photos and videos between Christian Horner and a woman.
Exchanges supposed to come from the file compiled for the investigation but which are still trying to be authenticated at present.
On social networks, Internet users, having supposedly received the email, are rushing to share content that is currently unverifiable.
“We need more transparency”
Faced with the scale of this new storm, Christian Horner was forced to react once again.
“I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but I repeat, I have always denied these allegations,” the Red Bull boss said in a statement read to journalists by a team spokesperson.
I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and cooperated fully every step of the way.
»
The internal investigation, carried out by a law firm outside the team, is increasingly criticized.
Red Bull had indicated on Wednesday in its laconic press release that "the investigation report (being) confidential and (containing) private information on the parties and third parties who participated in the investigation", the group would not make further comments “out of respect for everyone involved.”
Without any details therefore.
Asked to react to the results of this investigation, certain team bosses called for more clarity.
“I feel like we can't really look behind the curtain but at the end of the day there was a woman in an organization who spoke to HR and said there was a problem, which was addressed. an investigation and yesterday F1 received a message saying everything was fine.
(…) I think that on such critical subjects, we need more transparency,” explained Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown followed suit: “There will still be a lot of speculation as a lot of questions remain unanswered about the whole process.
And that's what those who run the sport need to really put a stop to it!
»
Read alsoFormula 1: Grands Prix, dates, locations… The official calendar for the 2024 season
The pressure therefore continues to increase on Christian Horner and Red Bull.
Especially since the Austrian single-seater and its revolutionary design are still struggling to fully convince in Bahrain... Unless their full potential is revealed for the qualifications scheduled for this Friday (4 p.m.).
But with Horner still at the helm?