Christian Horner’s future as Red Bull team principal was in serious jeopardy on Thursday night after what appeared to be intimate WhatsApp exchanges with a female colleague were sent to Formula One’s most influential figures.
The bombshell email contained 79 documents, including hundreds of messages, many of them of a sexual nature.
The anonymous sender copied in leading people in the sport, such as FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, as well as accredited media gathered in Bahrain for the scandal- ridden opening race of the season.
The tranche of seemingly incriminating material landed as second practice started at 6pm, around 24 hours after Horner had been cleared of ‘coercive behaviour’ by his team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, in Salzburg. That followed an internal investigation, led by a KC, that gathered 150 pages of findings.
He was delighted by the verdict that ended, or so he thought, a crisis that had engulfed him and his Spice Girl wife Geri Halliwell. But all that was shortlived as the WhatsApp exchanges were published.
Christian Horner was cleared of ‘coercive behaviour towards female employee’ on Wednesday
Alleged text messages 50-year-old Horner sent to the female employee have been leaked
Red Bull launched the probe on Horner, husband of ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, on February 5
Throughout the probe, he had maintained his innocence and insisted he was going nowhere
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 on Thursday. 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.
Former popstar Geri (left) had been devastated by the jolt to their lives caused by the claims
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 on Thursday 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.
On Thursday night a spokesman for Red Bull GmbH said: ‘It is a private matter between 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.
Horner embraces three-time champion Verstappen in Bahrain ahead of the 2024 curtain raiser
Max Verstappen urged that he and Red Bull had not altered their preparations during the probe
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 his 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 that 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 on Thursday, 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.