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Translation:

Red Bull because of the Horner affair: once bulls, now zeros

There is no end to the saga surrounding the accusations against Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. That's why the Briton is being compared to Icarus.

The saga surrounding the accusations against Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is never ending. That's why the Briton is being compared to Icarus.

Things are only going well at Red Bull in sporting terms. After last week's test drives in Bahrain, defending champion Max Verstappen (26) is considered to be the heavy favorite for the title in the Formula 1 World Championship, the first of 24 races of which will take place next Saturday on the track near the Bahraini capital of Manama. Formula E boss Jeff Dodds even bet 250,000 US dollars on the Dutch Red Bull superstar. He would donate it to charity if Verstappen does not win his fourth title in a row.

Beyond the stopwatches, however, something is really rotten in the Red Bull state in Fuschl near Salzburg. The reason: Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner (50) is still in office despite an investigation into sexual harassment in the workplace. There is still no result of the hearing by a lawyer, who has literally disappeared on vacation since then.

Horner, who vehemently denies any allegations, used the extra time to be present at the tests in Bahrain. However, it is not only the FIA and the American chief marketer of the premier class, Liberty Media, who are demanding the fastest possible clarification from Red Bull. Ford, the future technical partner, is now reacting most impatiently.

Ford demands clarification from Red Bull

In an open letter to the Formula 1 team, which is available to the AP news agency, the CEO calls for transparency in dealing with the matter. Ford is increasingly annoyed because there has been "no solution so far and no clear indication of when a fair and equitable solution can be expected. "Furthermore, the lack of transparency towards us is frustrating. Because we are business partners. And we want to receive a full report of all findings."

One thing is certain: The Austrian decision-makers of the beverage group around Mark Mateschitz (he inherited the 49 percent from his father, Group founder Dietrich Mateschitz) and CEO Oliver Mintzlaff would rather get rid of Horner today than tomorrow. However, their hands are tied.

F1-Insider.com knows why: Dietrich Mateschitz had a management contract with the 51 percent owners from Thailand, which gave him a free hand in various operational decisions. This included making personnel decisions independently. After Mateschitz's death in October 2022, this crucial additional agreement was not transferred to the heirs. As a result, it is not possible to suspend or dismiss Horner without the consent of the Thai family.

The problem: Chalerm Yoovidhya, head of the Thai Red Bull family, has taken a fancy to Horner. Ralf Schumacher, Formula 1 star and current expert for Sky Germany and extremely well connected at Red Bull, puts it in a nutshell at F1-Insider.com: "For Chalerm, Horner is a kind of foster son. He stands by him unconditionally. And whether we like it or not, unfortunately the reality is that our Western values of equality have not yet arrived in Thailand. The role of a woman is still seen differently there."

Loss of image for Red Bull

The Austrians are therefore almost desperate to see how the Horner affair is causing more and more damage to the beverage company's image. "Former bulls, now zeros" is the most harmless gloating that Mateschitz Junior and Co. have to listen to behind closed doors in the scene.

Because Horner has the Thais behind him. It doesn't matter that he has turned the most important people against him with the Verstappen clan, design genius Adrian Newey, chief consultant Helmut Marko and the decision-makers at Red Bull in Austria. Frustrated, all you hear from Austria are sentences like: "Horner lives on another planet. He is no longer from this world."

However, anyone who wants to understand why Horner has long been nicknamed "Icarus" in Salzburg, the young man from Greek mythology whose wings melted because he came too close to the sun, just has to watch the current season of the F1 documentary "Drive to survive" on Netflix. Horner celebrates himself in the style of the Sun King Louis XIV, who in the Middle Ages wiped away critics of his decadent lifestyle with one sentence: "I am the state."

In several situations in the documentary, Horner never leaves any doubt as to who Red Bull has to thank for everything: him. With the knowledge of the investigation in the background, some scenes become bizarre. For example, when Santa Claus asks his children on camera: "Was your daddy good last year?" Or when he replies to his driver Daniel Ricciardo, who wishes him a good flight from A to B, completely detached: "As long as I'm not sitting behind Helmut (Marko, the ed.) and he farts, everything is ok."

Jordan: "Someone has to pull the ripcord"

One thing is certain: Red Bull Austria must solve the Horner problem as quickly as possible. Despite the superiority from Thailand. Former team boss Eddie Jordan, a buddy of design genius Adrian Newey, fears the worst otherwise. Jordan told F1-Insider.com: "I've seen a lot of bad decisions. But the Red Bull situation is the most absurd thing I've ever seen. Of course there is the presumption of innocence for Horner. But does anyone seriously believe that the employee made the accusations up out of thin air? If Horner is innocent, is she guilty? The damage to Red Bull's image is already huge. Someone has to pull the ripcord now."

But who? At the moment, the plan is still for Horner, Newey and Marko to fly together from Austria to the opening race in Bahrain on Wednesday afternoon. You could also say: "The incredible journey in a crazy plane."

“The riot within Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing around the independent investigation of team boss Christian Horner turns out to be one of great proportions. The female employee who reported to the headquarters of the billion-dollar group in Austria in December 2023 accuses Horner of sexually transgressive behavior.

The employee has ceded app traffic, which would show this, to the external lawyer investigating the Horner case. De Telegraaf faced this app traffic. Horner has so far denied all allegations.

De Telegraaf's publication on February 5 about the investigation instituted by the Red Bull summit by an external, specialist lawyer already hit like a bomb in the Formula 1 world. Since then, there has been plenty of speculation about the exact allegations of the employee in question, whose name is known to this editor.

Explosive material

It now appears that the woman's explosive material goes far beyond 'just' some voice elevation of the powerful team boss and his management style, as was claimed here and there.

Stories about this have been circulating within the Formula 1 world for months, also in 2023, and were already known behind the scenes at the time of the meeting with all team bosses in London, on the same February 5.

App traffic

To be confirmed by multiple sources in Milton Keynes, England, those sounds around the big presentation of the racing team on Thursday.

The app traffic between the female employee of Red Bull and Horner, seen by De Telegraaf, shows the image that Horner (50) has arranged and sent sexually-toned messages to the employee over a significant period of time.

To cover the case

All messages have been saved and sent through the employee's lawyer to the engaged, external lawyer. He sat around the table with Horner for hours last Friday. Previously, the reporter had been heard for a long time.

It is also clear that Horner did everything he could to cover up the case. In the weekend before the first publication in De Telegraaf – after he was confronted with the investigation into cross-border behavior on Friday evening, February 2 and was asked for a response – his lawyers sent a letter to the lawyer who asssist the reporter within 24 hours. In it, the Horner camp offers a settlement for an amount of no less than 650,000 pounds, converted to more than 760,000 euros.

Allegations known at Red Bull summit

Horner is not only a well-known figure in England because of his position as team boss of Red Bull Racing in the Formula 1 world (since 2005) and the fact that he is in charge of more than 1500 employees. He is also in a relationship with former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and is therefore extra in the spotlight.

The allegations, the app- traffic and the tone of the apps are known at the Red Bull- summit in Austria, with Mark Mateschitz and sports boss Oliver Mintzlaff, among others.

Support from Yoovidhya

Yet Horner has not yet been put on non-active, pending the investigation, and he has not decided to (temporarily) take a step back himself. That has everything to do with the fact that the Briton still has the support of the Thai Chalerm Yoovidhya. He owns Red Bull for 51 percent and therefore owns a majority. The remaining shares, 49 percent, are owned by Mark Mateschitz, the son of Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in 2022.

Horner was just at work for the past period and also present at the Red Bull plant in Milton Keynes on Thursday at the presentation of the new car of world champions Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez for the upcoming Formula 1 season. Next week, the test days in Bahrain are scheduled, the place where the first race of the season will also be held a week later (Saturday 2 March).

Rather lost than rich

The Briton again denied all allegations to him on Thursday after the team presentation, stated that he will just be in Bahrain next week, did not think about getting off and also said he felt a lot of support within the team and from the Red Bull summit.

However, it is clear that many insiders, and probably also Horner himself, realize that within that Red Bull- top - so not from the racing team but from the headquarters in Austria - many would rather lose him than be rich.

Known to other protagonists in F1

It is not for nothing that headquarters, after questions from De Telegraaf about accusations against Horner, quickly confirmed that an investigation is indeed underway and the case is being taken 'extremely seriously'. Horner had no knowledge of the statement at the time.

Horner's allegations of sexually transgressive behavior are now also known to several, other protagonists in the Formula 1 world.

Eyes focused on Liberty Media

In addition, the eyes of the American sports owners of Liberty Media – owner of the Formula 1 for four billion euros since 2016 – are also focused on the issue and its handling, as are Red Bulls major, American sponsors Oracle and Ford.

It is precisely in the United States that these kinds of things around multinationals and world-famous sports brands are extra sensitive.

Horner did not want to respond to questions about app traffic.”