Red Bull intends its statement announcing the completion of its Christian Horner investigation to be its final word on the matter.
Whether that will prove to be the case remains to be seen. But there is no doubt Red Bull has avoided destabilising its championship-winning team on the eve of the new season by keeping Horner in place.
Over three weeks had passed since Red Bull’s Austrian owners confirmed it had begun what it described as an “independent” investigation, involving an “external specialist barrister” into the claims made against Horner. Today it announced only that “the grievance has been dismissed” and gave no further details on what Horner had been accused of.
“The investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation, and therefore we will not be commenting further out of respect for all concerned,” Red Bull stated.
However some publications had made claims about what Horner had been accused of, and many in F1 did not like what they saw. “The allegations are extremely serious,” said McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. “We need to handle it swiftly because I don’t believe these are the type of headlines that Formula 1 wants or needs at this time.”
Formula One Management also indicated it wanted to see a quick resolution. “We hope that the matter will be clarified at the earliest opportunity, after a fair and thorough process and we will not comment further at this time,” it said.
But the publication three days ago of a report of a letter from Ford, Red Bull’s 2026 engine partner, to the team indicated how seriously they took the matter and how concerned they were at the length of time being taken to resolve it. Ford CEO Jim Farley said they were “increasingly frustrated” by the “lack of resolution or clear indication from you about when you anticipate a fair and just resolution of this matter.”
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The stakes were high on both sides. While facing significant pressure from outside, the importance of Horner to Red Bull can hardly be understated.
He is in his 20th year running the team he founded with Dietrich Mateschitz. During that time he has taken them to the top of Formula 1 and back again, entering the new season seeking their third consecutive world championship.
He has also laid out ambitious plans for their future, embarking on an engine development…
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