F1 legend Eddie Jordan has launched a scathing attack on Red Bull over its handling of the Christian Horner sexting probe.
The former racing team owner blasted the formal investigation into Horner‘s behaviour as “absurd” and said the damage it had done to the team was “already huge”.
PAChristian Horner’s future at Red Bull is still hanging in the balance – with a decision expected in 48 hours[/caption]
GettyF1 legend Eddie Jordan blasted the investigation as ‘absurd’ and deeply damaging to Red Bull[/caption]
ReutersRed Bull has been pushing the message of ‘business as usual’ at pre-season testing in Bahrain[/caption]
Jordan, who founded the now defunct Jordan Grand Prix team which competed from 1991 to 2005, told Red Bull to “pull the ripcord now” and make a decision over Horner’s fate at the team.
The Red Bull chief, 50, is expected to find out within the next 48 hours if he is out of a job after a three-week probe into controlling behaviour and sexting allegations made by a female colleague.
Speaking to F1 Insider, Jordan said: “I have experienced many wrong decisions.
“But the Red Bull situation is the most absurd thing I’ve ever seen.
“Of course, there is initially the presumption of innocence for Horner. But does anyone seriously believe that the employee made up her mind about the allegations?”
Jordan, a close friend of Red Bull’s design maestro Adrian Newey, added: “Red Bull’s loss of image is already huge. Someone has to pull the ripcord now.”
Horner vehemently denies all the allegations and has repeatedly said he hopes for a swift end to the investigation.
F1 insiders believe the decision will come before the season-opening Grand Prix which first kicks off on Wednesday.
It comes as the full report into the behaviour probe, which is being handled by the energy drink’s HQ in Austria, could be kept secret by Red Bull.
It is understood that the investigation, which was carried out by a specialist barrister and included an eight-hour grilling on February 9, has now concluded.
Yesterday, two-time world champion Max Verstappen spoke out again about the investigation of his team boss.
Speaking to reporters media at the Milton Keynes launch, he said it will be “nice for everyone” when the investigation is resolved.
The Red Bull driver added: “So it’s better that I just focus on my own performance because that’s already the day job.
“But I guess…for everyone, it’s nice, of course, when things are resolved. But that’s the only thing that I can say about that.
“Everyone who is here, they’re all focusing on the performance of the car, as they should.
His statements echo those from the Milton Keynes-based team whose go-to phrase has been “business as usual” while they wait for a conclusion to the saga.
The bombshell claims that have rocked F1
F1 was rocked earlier this month by the sudden news that the sport’s longest-standing team principal had been placed under investigation by Red Bull’s Austria-based parent company.
This was thought to be over a “dossier of incriminating material” regarding “inappropriate and controlling behaviour” towards one female, The Telegraph reported.
Red Bull’s Austrian parent company flew an independent lawyer to the UK to question the multi-millionaire race ace and his accuser.
The former racing driver, who runs world champion Max Verstappen’s all-conquering Red Bull team, endured an eight-hour grilling over the claims last week.
Most recently however, more allegations have come out as the De Telegraaf reported that Horner allegedly sent sex messages to his employee “over an extended period of time”.
Messages were said to have been saved and presented as evidence to the external barrister running the inquiry after the woman made a complaint last December.
Mr Horner categorically denied the new allegations and is thought to be taking legal action against De Telegraaf.
An F1 source told The Sun last week that “Christian has not been sacked or asked to resign and he is not going to resign”.
The investigation raises the question of who could take over the helm of the all-conquering racing team of world champion Max Verstappen.
His wife Geri Halliwell is also said to be “terrified her life will unravel” amid Horner’s “inappropriate behaviour” probe.
The ex-Spice Girl, who was “in floods of tears” when the Red Bull boss was hit with the bombshell allegations, fears the drama will drag on for years, a source has claimed.
But Geri, 51, is understood to be standing by her husband.
She has told pals: “Christian has done nothing wrong.”
Horner has overseen a huge period of success for the racing team – winning multiple F1 championships with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.
Red Bull has won seven Formula One world drivers’ championships and six world constructors’ titles under Horner’s leadership.
Last season, the team won 21 of the 22 races on the global F1 tour, and Verstappen, 26, won the drivers’ crown.
Horner was awarded a CBE for services to motorsport in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List
Horner, who has led the Austrian team since its formation in 2005, oversaw pre-season testing last week in Bahrain and was all smiles as he pictured in the pit lane.
But other team principals spent time in Bahrain calling for greater “transparency” in F1 in the wake of the scandal engulfing Red Bull.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff described it as “an issue for all of Formula One”, while Mclaren chief Zak Brown called the allegations “extremely serious”.
Brown hoped that they were being handled in a “very transparent way” and “swiftly” as “these are not the headlines that Formula One wants or needs.”
Since the scandal broke, Horner’s Spice Girl wife Geri Halliwell, 51, has stood by her husband.
Last weekend, she was pictured smiling alongside Horner, who she married in 2015, at a horse racing event in Badbury Rings, Dorset.
However, fresh reports say the Spice Girls star is “mortified and angry” over the probe.
But she has privately insisted her husband, with whom she shares a son, has done nothing wrong.
GettyHorner shares a laugh with world champion Max Verstappen at pre-season testing[/caption]
Christian Horner’s life and career
CHRISTIAN Horner is among the most well-known names in Formula One having helped build Red Bull into one of the biggest teams in the sport.
1973 – Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
1991 – Wins a Formula Renault scholarship after impressing in karting races
1993-1997 – Competed in a host of competitions including British Formula Three, British Formula Two, and Formula 3000
1997 – Founded and developed the F3000 team Arden
1999 – Retired from driving and continued developing the Arden team
2005 – Appointed head of Red Bull team, becoming the youngest ever team principal at that time
2009 – Wins his first races as team principal with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
2010 – Wins the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with Vettel – the first of four doubles in a row
2013 – Has a daughter with ex-wife Beverly Allen shortly before the couple split
2014 – Gets engaged to Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell
2015 – Marries Halliwell in Woburn, Bedfordshire
2017 – Horner and Halliwell welcome their son
2021 – Wins another Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen, pipping Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season
2022-23 – Red Bull win the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship two years in a row
GettyGeri Halliwell is reportedly ‘mortified and angry’ at the probe into her husband’s behaviour[/caption]
GettyThe scandal has overshadowed the gear up to the F1 racing season[/caption]
GettyHorner has denied all the allegations[/caption]