The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, is under external investigation after an accusation regarding his conduct was made by another member of staff at the multiple championship-winning Formula One team.
Horner has emphatically rejected the allegation which was widely reported as relating to inappropriate controlling behaviour. The 50‑year‑old, one of the most successful team principals in modern F1 who has overseen six constructors’ world championships and seven drivers’ titles at Red Bull Racing, said: “I completely deny these claims.”
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Red Bull, the Austrian energy drinks company which owns the F1 team, confirmed an investigation is taking place. “After being made aware of certain recent allegations, the company launched an independent investigation,” it stated. “This process, which is already under way, is being carried out by an external specialist barrister.
“The company takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practically possible. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
There has been no further comment from the Red Bull Racing team as yet.
Horner is the longest-serving team principal among the current 10 F1 teams. He was brought in to run Red Bull when the Jaguar team was purchased by the energy drink company in 2004. It was his first role in F1 having previously founded and then run the Formula 3000 Arden team.
When Red Bull brought him in to take over Jaguar had been struggling in the midfield at the time but Horner has since managed a remarkable success story and expansion of the team to one of the largest in F1 that now also manufactures its own engines.
He was instrumental in bringing the designer Adrian Newey to Red Bull in 2006. They took their first win in 2009 and their first title in 2010 with Sebastian Vettel only five years after Horner had taken over. The German driver went on to secure three more consecutive championships.
In 2021 Max Verstappen returned their fifth drivers’ title and they have enjoyed a run of unprecedented dominance since then. They won 21 of 22 races last season, with Verstappen taking a record 10 consecutive wins before securing their sixth drivers’ and constructors’ championship double.
Red Bull are expected to be hard to beat this season and will launch their new car the RB20 on 15 February at their headquarters in Milton Keynes. The first race takes place in Bahrain on 2 March.