Christian Horner was seen ‘betraying mounting stress’ after taking a phone call during free practice on Thursday just 24 hours after being cleared by a weeks-long investigation.
The Red Bull team principal had been facing an internal probe after being accused by a female employee of inappropriate behaviour.
Horner continued to vehemently deny the allegations against him throughout the investigation and was seemingly vindicated on Wednesday when he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Red Bull GmBH announced in a statement that the investigation was complete and were “confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial”.
The end of the investigation appeared to lift some weight off Horner’s shoulders as he admitted to being relieved that the “process is over” ahead of FP1 on Thursday.
Christian Horner had a busy day at the track on Thursday
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However, the Telegraph note how Horner’s mood shifted throughout the day with tensions high in the paddock.
The report claims Horner’s body language drastically shifted after taking a phone call in the afternoon.
The 50-year-old then took another phone call shortly after before meeting with Jos Verstappen.
Max Verstappen’s dad is said to have a ‘close relationship’ with the female employee who made the allegations against Horner.
Horner’s investigation was also the focus of his rival team principals during their press conference with both Toto Wolff and Zak Brown calling for more “transparency” from Red Bull.
They then got their wish as an anonymous person leaked a series of text messages from Horner to all nine other team principals as well as hundreds of journalists and other F1 bosses.
The leaked file is said to have contained photos and screenshots of messages on WhatsApp.
But Horner’s change in mood throughout the day may have also had something to do with Red Bull’s issues in free practice.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were off the pace in both sessions with the two drivers struggling to find the right set up.
Christian Horner was spotted in conversation with Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen
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The reigning world champion was sixth-fastest in both free practice sessions and was half a second slower than Lewis Hamilton in FP2.
Red Bull will still be the favourites heading into the first race of the season given how dominant they were in 2023.
And Verstappen wasn’t too disheartened by their pace on Thursday, insisting there’s still plenty of time before Saturday’s race.
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Jos Verstappen is said to have a close relationship with the female employee
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He said: “I think it was not too bad. It’s just that I think it’s very close. Maybe some people around us already turned up the engine a bit, you know in terms of top speed.
“We just need to focus on ourselves and I think today there were some small balance problems on the front to rear.
“We just need to find that sweetspot, especially around here with the rough tarmac.
“Once you get it into that sweet spot, you just pick up time and that is what will try to focus on a litter bit more tomorrow.”
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