The ground under Christian Horner’s feet remains red hot. Meanwhile, the whole world knows that he is suspected of having sent sexually explicit WhatsApp messages to a Red Bull employee. Business magazine Business F1 reveals in its latest issue that the press release announcing Horner’s departure had already been written.
The article gives us new insights and revelations into the whole soap opera that it has become. For example, the woman in question is said to have collapsed during a race weekend and told her story in tears to several colleagues.
Red Bull is said to have already been aware of Horner’s alleged misconduct in January, which is at odds with the code of conduct within the company. That is why Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, after internal consultations, had a press release drawn up in early February in which the company announced that Horner would leave Red Bull Racing with immediate effect and that the parent company in Austria would make no further comment on it.
Christian Horner was reportedly offered a resignation so that he could have left even without damage to his reputation. Horner refused this and demanded an independent investigation. Mintzlaff agreed, he was sure that after that investigation there would be confirmation that dismissal would be the only right option.
So why did we just see Christian Horner in his normal role last weekend in Bahrain?
The team boss reportedly received a helping hand from Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai major shareholder who was also present in Bahrain last weekend. He continues to hold his hand over Horner’s head and supports him, although there are major doubts about how the investigation went and what the word independent means in the investigation in question.
Naturally, this has caused enormous annoyance for several people within the Red Bull group. They allegedly took matters into their own hands and leaked the messages in question to F1, the teams and the press last weekend.
Rest assured, loyal readers, a sequel to this story about Christian Horner is imminent.
Written by Vincent Bogaerts