The employee of the Red Bull Formula 1 team who denounced the behavior of director Christian Horner and led to an investigation by the parent company has been suspended, a person with knowledge of the situation revealed to the Associated Press Thursday.
The person requested anonymity because Red Bull offered no details about the internal investigation.
The parent company of the Red Bull team did not respond to requests for comment from the AP.
Last week, the Red Bull company indicated that it had not upheld the complaint against Horner which had been made by a team employee. Red Bull added that the employee had the possibility of contesting the decision.
Horner declined to discuss the suspension Thursday during a news conference in Jeddah.
“I’m afraid I can’t comment since it’s a private issue between the employee and the company, which I can’t say anything about,” he said.
The next day, during a free practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a computer file containing alleged evidence against Horner was sent to around 200 F1 players in the paddocks, including Liberty Media, F1’s , the FIA, the directors of the nine other teams in the field as well as numerous journalists.
The authenticity of these files, however, could not be verified by the AP; these were sent from a mysterious email address.
Separately, Horner reiterated on Thursday that he believes Verstappen will not leave Red Bull. The statement came after Verstappen’s father Jos publicly criticized Horner and said the team could “implode” if he remained at Red Bull. These comments were relayed by the Daily Mail.
Verstappen said Wednesday that his father “is not a liar”, but added in the same breath that he had “no reason” to leave the team with which he won three consecutive world championships.
Asked if Verstappen would end his contract with Red Bull, Horner replied: “I’m sure so. He is very well surrounded, he believes in each member of the team and we have accomplished so much together, so he will respect his commitments until 2028. We already know, from the team’s point of view, and from that of Max, which we want to continue building on the successes we have already achieved together. »
Horner added that “discussions” took place after Verstappen’s victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, without offering further details.
“I spoke with Jos after the (Bahrain) Grand Prix and obviously congratulated him on his son’s performance, and I believe it is in everyone’s best interest that we turn the page on that. , in order to focus on the future,” concluded Horner.