As questions about Red Bull CEO Christian Horner persist, Toto Wolff feels that it is the responsibility of Formula 1’s executives to make sure the sport retains its moral compass.
Regarding the accusations made against Christian Horner of Red Bull, Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff acknowledges that the onus is on the F1 executives to “set the compass right.”
Messages purportedly exchanged between Horner and a colleague were leaked a day after an internal investigation cleared the Red Bull team principal of “inappropriate behavior.” Wolff acknowledges that he “keeps wondering how this has been handled.”
Prior to the race on Saturday, Financial Times was informed by FIA President Mohammad ben Sulayem that the ongoing controversy surrounding Horner is “damaging the sport on a human level.” Even though Red Bull is making an effort to put a stop to the story, Wolff is curious to see how the sport’s executives handle it.
“Let’s see where it goes in the next few days,” he stated. It is my sincere hope that the governing body and the owner of the commercial rights will establish the appropriate compass. However, if I keep questioning how this has been handled, I probably won’t be helping the situation as a whole because it might be assumed that this is just a power struggle within Formula One.
“For this reason, it shouldn’t be in the hands of the Red Bull teams. That’s not the whole scope of the issue, and I don’t want to minimize it by implying that the Mercedes representative is only referring to the Red Bull executives.”
The head of Mercedes is not the only man looking for clarification. Red Bull insisted throughout the week that their investigation was exhaustive, but Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, has urged Formula One to make sure that the world champion team has been completely transparent.
“I believe the sanctioning body has an authority and responsibility to our officials and our sport,” he stated. Like you see in other sports, I believe that all of us in Formula 1 are ambassadors for the sport both on and off the track, so I believe they should make sure that everything has been completely transparent with them.
“And I’m not sure what those conversations are about, but they need to be exhaustive, completely transparent, and they need to agree with the outcome and reach the same conclusion as Red Bull.
Horner acknowledged that the outside noise has been challenging to deal with, but he insisted that the Austrian team is a united front and that he will stay in charge despite all the rumors.
“Obviously, the unwanted attention hasn’t been pleasant,” he remarked. However, the cars are now the main attraction. My attention has been primarily focused on the current course of events, and I believe that today’s outcome highlights the team’s direction as we proceed forward.
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