Red Bull forced into ‘rethink’ amid Christian Horner controversy claims former F1 chief

Horner’s future as Red Bull team principal has been a hot topic through the opening two rounds

Ex-Formula 1 chief Guenther Steiner reckons Red Bull’s leadership might be “rethinking what they want to do” amid the Christian Horner controversy.

The future of the team principal with the team has been a hot topic in the first two rounds of the Formula 1 season. Horner has faced claims of misconduct from a female staff member, although an internal investigation dismissed these allegations. Not much information has been shared about this issue and leaked photos have kept the scandal in the spotlight. Despite all of this, Horner has carried on working as normal, leading Red Bull to two victories.

But Steiner is sure that both the team and the sport will want to draw a line under this soon. He spoke to ABC Sport saying: “In the higher ranks of the company, there will be… some people rethinking what they want to do. I hope that for the sake of Formula 1 … they put an end to it … and we move on.”

Before the first race in Bahrain, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem confessed that the matter around Horner was harming the sport. He, however, hadn’t done an official investigation himself because the complaint was lodged with Red Bull, not with the sport’s governing body. Now, the woman has made a complaint to the FIA’s ethics committee after being suspended by the team. The FIA shared in a statement: “Enquiries and complaints are received and managed by the compliance officer, and the ethics committee where appropriate.

“Both bodies operate autonomously, guaranteeing strict confidentiality throughout the process. As a consequence, and in general, we are unable to confirm the receipt of any specific complaint and it is unlikely that we will be able to provide further comment on the complaints that we may receive from any parties.”

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