The future of Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner will be decided before the Formula 1 opener on Saturday in Bahrain, reports the Reuters news agency.
The 50-year-old husband of ex-Spice Girl singer Geri Halliwell has been the focus of internal team investigations since January. The exact allegations were never officially communicated. According to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the Briton is said to have sent sexually suggestive messages to an employee over a long period of time.
The Formula 1 parent company Liberty Media, like the entire scene, would also like to have the matter resolved as quickly as possible so that the sport remains the focus from Bahrain onwards.
Horner was interviewed by an independent lawyer on February 9th, and the final report, which was submitted to Red Bull GmbH in Austria, is believed to be based on around 60 hours of interviews with all parties. The television channel Sky Sports reported that the document ran to well over a hundred pages, but the details were expected to remain confidential.
Little transparency
Horner went to test in Bahrain last week and then returned to the factory in Milton Keynes. Under normal circumstances he would travel back to Bahrain on Wednesday when the first training sessions begin the following day. The race takes place on Saturday due to the start of the Ramadan fasting month.
Last Thursday, Horner made cautious comments. “There is a process that I am a part of,” he said in Sakhir. “I really can’t comment on the procedure or the time frame. Of course everyone would like a result as quickly as possible,” continued Horner.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who is known not to be a fan of Horner, said regarding the matter: “I don’t want to hit Christian now.” Also out of respect for the family, the Viennese continued. The fact that the matter overshadowed the start of the season was not good for racing. “Formula 1 has a reputation issue, because we are a sport where there are mainly men in management positions and in cars, and we want to do more. We want more women, we want to have more diversity in this sport, we want to be transparent ” said Wolff.
