Bad News for Christian Horner; Red Bull to Be “Fully Transparent”, but Not Before Grilling Female Employee

We thought Jos Verstappen saying that Christian Horner staying at Red Bull could explode the team was bad news for the Team Principal. But not as bad as the latest that was revealed regarding the Christian Horner Investigation. Post the female employees’ appeal, Red Bull is back at the asking questions phase and has promised to be transparent this time. So what does this mean for Horner?

Christian Horner’s Investigation result came out just before the race weekend in Bahrain, and Horner was found not guilty of the accusations against him. Soon after, the female employee was suspended and filed an appeal against the decision. And now, all the pages of the case are re-opening once as Red Bull is taking action. The Sun reports that a new barrister has been appointed and will be questioning the female employee once again. 

The last time the decision came out, many Team Principals including Zak Brown and Toto Wolff pointed out the lack of transparency. Even the F1 community demanded transparency into the investigation with Sebastian Vettel being the latest one from the F1 world asking for it. And Red Bull has now promised transparency once this appeal is over.

According to the Sun, an F1 source said, “No one wants this to drag on any longer than it needs to. Red Bull has made it clear that once the appeal is over, they are willing to be fully transparent. They don’t want to do anything that compromises the process but when it’s done, the gloves are off.”

Since the first investigation, a lot of development has happened at Red Bull. Christian Horner is rumored to take control of the Motorsports and Beverage division, Max Verstappen is rumored to leave, and a friend of the female employee has come and talked about the case suggesting that the leaked screenshots were in fact real and that the confidentiality agreement stops the employee from talking to anyone about the case except immediate family.

Christian Horner’s Leaked Chats Confirmed by Victim’s Friend

Soon after the investigation was concluded by Red Bull, an anonymous email was sent with the link to a Google Drive to all the Team Principals, senior F1 and FIA members, and Journalists. The folder supposedly contained the leaked chats between Horner and the female employee. However, no one knew if they were real. But recently, a friend of the female employee came out and suggested that the chats were indeed real. 

Speaking with BBC, the friend said, “We can all read the WhatsApp and anybody can come to their own conclusion whether that was an appropriate relationship between a CEO and a PA. As Christian has said, he wants to draw a line under this. Well, if this has been a fair and independent process and there has been no wrongdoing found, then why isn’t that being brought forward in a transparent way and why isn’t Christian denying that those WhatsApps are real?”

What do you make of Red Bull’s claim of being transparent? Obviously, they would not reveal all the details of the case as both parties have signed a confidentiality agreement.