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An internal investigation at Red Bull into allegations of misconduct against Christian Horner has concluded
On Thursday Red Bull announced the conclusion of an internal appeals process into allegations of inappropriate behavior by Team Principal Christian Horner. Earlier this season an internal investigation into those allegations, raised by an employee of Red Bull, was led by external counsel. As part of that investigation, Horner sat with investigators for a lengthy interview earlier this month. Throughout the process, the Red Bull Team Principal maintained that he had done nothing wrong.
That complaint against Horner was “dismissed,” with the team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, stating at the time:
“The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed. The complainant has a right of appeal. Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair rigorous and impartial. 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.”
The involved employee exercised their right of appeal, but according to the team’s statement today, that appeal has not been “upheld,” bringing the internal matter to a close.
“Earlier this year a complaint raised against Christian Horner was investigated. That complaint was dealt with through the company’s grievance procedure by the appointment of an independent KC [king’s counsel] who dismissed the grievance.
“The complainant exercised the right to appeal, and the appeal was carried out by another independent KC. All stages of the appeal process have now been concluded, with the final outcome that the appeal is not being upheld.”
According to multiple reports, the underlying employee remains suspended by the team. Throughout the process, Horner denied the allegations.
The announcement comes amid Formula 1’s summer shutdown, as the schedule will not resume until the Dutch Grand Prix later this month. The initial investigation and outcry regarding Horner dominated the beginning of the season and led to speculation that Horner’s tenure at Red Bull was untenable.
As noted by the statement, this ends the internal investigation into the matter. The employee could still bring external legal action against Horner. When the matter was initially dismissed back in March, reports at the time indicated that the employee was considering such an action against Horner should the appeal fail.
We now wait to see if that is indeed the next step in this matter.
