Christian Horner, the team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing, was questioned by a lawyer during a meeting on Friday regarding a claim that he had behaved inappropriately.
According to reports, a hearing into a colleague’s claim of inappropriate behavior directed towards Red Bull CEO Christian Horner concluded without a conclusion.
Deniing the accusation, Horner went to a purported eight-hour meeting on Friday where he was questioned about the situation by a lawyer and given an opportunity to present his side of the story. The 50-year-old is still serving as Red Bull Racing’s team principal and chief executive, and the company hopes to make a decision regarding his future before their season-opening event the following week.
The BBC reports that there are “even questions as to whether it will be completed in time for the start of the season,” which begins in Bahrain on March 2, and that it is currently “unclear” whether everything will be resolved before the launch.
“It would not be appropriate to comment until the investigation is completed,” a Red Bull spokesperson stated. The report also states that in spite of the ongoing investigation, they still intend to proceed with the launch event scheduled for next week.
It is unclear who would take over as team principal if Red Bull were to replace Horner. Oliver Mintzlaff, the managing director of Red Bull parent company, is another obvious choice, as is Jonathan Wheatley, the sporting director of Red Bull Racing.
Previously serving as RB Leipzig’s chief executive, Mintzlaff was involved in the football side of the company. On February 21, pre-season testing is scheduled to begin in Bahrain, and on March 2, the Sakhir circuit will host the first Grand Prix of the upcoming season.
Max Verstappen dominated the field on his way to a third world championship, and Red Bull is the defending champion going into the new season. Adrian Newey, the team’s chief technical officer, is also optimistic that the RB20, their new vehicle, will increase their success.
He said on the Talking Bull podcast, “Our car will be very much a third evolution of the ’22 car.” The car from the previous year was an improvement over the ’22. The primary differences were the usual winter aerodynamic development, some insight into the suspension work that needed to be done to try to improve the car further, and the ability to remove weight from the vehicle—since the ’22 never reached the weight limit.
The vehicle for this year is the third iteration of the original RB18. Of course, the question now is: Is the third evolution overly conservative while others have taken a different approach? You simply are ignorant.
“There’s that [problem] of whether to continue down the current path or form a group to explore thoroughly unconventional ideas. We are limited in what we can accomplish by our resources. Since we are unable to consider every option, we have chosen to build on what we already have. I hope that turns out to be the wise decision.
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