Texts allegedly sent by Christian Horner to a female employee at Red Bull have been ‘leaked’ by an anonymous account after he was cleared of misconduct by Red Bull GmbH.
Horner was the subject of an internal investigation at Red Bull this month after allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ were made again the F1 team principal.
He had maintained his innocence throughout the process and vowed to clear his name.
The investigation was brought to a close on Wednesday with Red Bull clearing Horner of any wrongdoing.
Christian Horner was cleared of misconduct by Red Bull
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A statement from Red Bull read: “The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed.
“The complainant has a right of appeal. Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial.
“The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and therefore we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned.
“Red Bull will continue striving to meet the highest workplace standards.”
But just 24 hours after Horner was cleared, an anonymous account has ‘leaked’ conversations between the Red Bull boss and an unnamed person.
The messages have reportedly been leaked to multiple outlets as well as F1 team principals, Liberty Media and Stefano Domenicali among others.
The leaked file is said to contain photos and screenshots of messages on WhatsApp.
Horner spoke to Sky Sports F1 ahead of free practice on Thursday and said he was “pleased that the process is over”.
Christian Horner has continued his role in charge at Red Bull
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But the statement from Red Bull failed to satisfy Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who called for more “transparency”.
“Well I just read the statement, which was pretty basic, I would say,” he said.
“My personal opinion is we can’t really look behind the curtain. At the end of the day, there is a lady in an organisation that has spoken to HR and said there is an issue.
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Christian Horner has denied all allegations against him
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“It was investigated and yesterday the sport has received a message, ‘it’s all fine. We’ve looked at it.’
“And I believe that with the aspirations as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what the sport’s position is.
“We are competitors, we are a team and we can have our own personal opinions or not, but it’s more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to assess what is right in that situation and what is wrong.”
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