Red Bull hit by civil war as sponsors ponder next moves and rivals put boot in
wife Geri Halliwell. But all that was shortlived as the WhatsApp exchanges were published. Mail Sport asked Red Bull’s spokesman if Horner denied the emails were genuine. No denial came but, after taking advice from lawyers, he issued a defiant statement.
‘I will not comment on anonymous speculation,’ Horner said, ‘but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations. ‘I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way.
‘It was a thorough and fair investigation, conducted by an independent specialist barrister, and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made.
‘I remain fully focused on the start of the season.’ Horner also changed his WhatsApp avatar yesterday. It is no longer the image on the alleged exchanges with the woman in question.
The FIA and F1’s owners Liberty Media were weighing up their response to the evidence now in the public domain.
It is not certain if the messages were presented to the Red Bull-led investigation, but it is believed they probably were. Now, though, Horner is open to a public trial, while the most intense pressure on his role may be presented by the team’s sponsors potentially withdrawing their backing. Title sponsors Oracle and the team’s raft of partners had been assured on Wednesday — a few hours prior to the decision being publicly confirmed — that he had been exonerated, only now to be confronted with these extraordinary claims. Ford are due to be Red Bull’s engine partners from 2026 and were last night considering whether to respond.
Chief executive Jim Farley called last week for the case to be drawn to a swift close, indicating Ford were already tired of the speculation and potential damage to their family brand. Last night a spokesman for Red Bull GmbH said: ‘It is a private matter for Mr Horner and it would be inappropriate for Red Bull to comment on this.’
The email of leaked WhatsApps landed after an extraordinary day which saw the team put on a theatrical show of unity.
Key figures, such as Horner, motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, Jos Verstappen and his world champion son Max sat together on a table right at the front of the Red Bull hospitality area. Cameras caught them. Horner and the man he holds responsible for stirring up trouble for him, Verstappen Snr, shook hands and chatted for a couple of minutes when Jos, who denies he is briefing against his son’s boss, arrived earlier in the day.
But, make no mistake, there is a civil war at Red Bull. ‘Christian has a lot of enemies,’ said one paddock observer, ‘and people want him out.’
It is understood Horner’s big supporter is Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai billionaire who owns 51
per cent of the energy drinks company. He has so far supported the troubled boss. Horner’s position is less secure at the Salzburg end of the operation since the death of Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, the company’s co-founder, in October 2022. Earlier in the day, adding to the storm, Horner’s rival team principals called for the FIA and Formula One to scrutinise Red Bull’s decision.
‘I just read the statement (relating to Wednesday’s decision, after a process Red Bull GmbH described as ‘fair, rigorous and impartial’), it was pretty basic,’ said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. ‘My personal opinion is we can’t really look behind the curtain. There is a lady in an organisation who has spoken to HR and said there was an issue. It was investigated and yesterday the sport has received the message that it’s all fine, we’ve looked at it. ‘I believe with the aspiration as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what the sport’s position is.’ McLaren CEO Zak Brown added: ‘It’s the responsibility ultimately of the organisers of Formula One, the owners of Formula One, to make sure that all the racing teams, their personnel, the drivers and everyone else involved in the sport are operating in a manner in which we all live by.’
Horner, who was on the pit wall for both practice sessions yesterday, only spoke once in public, to Sky Sports, on his walk from the hospitality area to the garage. He said: ‘I am pleased that the process is over and I cannot comment about it. I am focused on the season ahead. Within the team it (the unity) has never been stronger.’ That last comment was the laugh of the century but, by the end of one of the most extraordinary days Formula One has ever known, there was no laughter.
Today it looks like Christian Horner CBE, after 19 years as Red Bull team boss, a winner of 13 world championships, is in the bloodiest fight of his life.