JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Red Bull Racing has suspended the employee who made allegations of inappropriate behavior against team principal Christian Horner, along with paying her wages, a person familiar with the matter said. The athlete Thursday.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide further details about the terms or reason for the suspension, but acknowledged that the matter was related to the results of an external investigation that led to the dismissal of the grievance against Horner.
Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of the Red Bull Racing team, acknowledged when the woman's complaint was dismissed last week that she had the right to appeal. It is not clear whether an appeal has been filed, or how it will be handled.
A Red Bull Racing spokesman said the team would not comment on personnel matters. When asked for comment at a press conference on Thursday, Horner also declined to comment. “Even if I wanted to talk about it, I can't, because of confidentiality restrictions,” he said of the investigation.
The International Automobile Federation, the sport's governing body, said it did not consider it appropriate to comment on the team's actions against one of its employees. It referred questions to F1, which declined to comment.
Since the dismissal of the grievance, Horner has faced fresh scrutiny after messages allegedly sent between him and the complainant were anonymously leaked on the eve of the new Formula 1 season in Bahrain.
Horner declined to comment on what he called “speculative, anonymous messages from an unknown source.” The athletewhich received an email with leaked contents, was unable to authenticate it.
The Red Bull team principal said after Saturday's Bahrain Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, that he was “absolutely” confident of continuing in his role.
“There was a complete, lengthy internal process completed by an independent (investigator),” Horner said. “The grievance raised has been dismissed. End. Continue.”
Horner's position was further called into question last weekend by Verstappen's father, Jos, who said Red Bull risked being “torn apart” if he remained in charge.
Horner held talks with Max Verstappen's manager, Raymond Vermeulen, in Dubai before traveling to Jeddah for this weekend's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
Speaking for the first time since his father's comments on Wednesday, Verstappen said he intends to stay with Red Bull until the end of his contract in 2028, and stressed that his focus is on the team's performance on the race track.
Verstappen said: “For my part, what I want, and it does not matter who participates in the team or not, is to have a calm environment where everyone is happy to work.” He added that he never saw a time when Gus wasn't part of his entourage at the races.
(Photo: Andrej Isakovich/AFP via Getty Images)