Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has been under investigation for weeks because he is said to have sent inappropriate messages to a close employee. Even two days before the start of the new Formula 1 season, it is still unclear whether the Brit will be in the command post in Bahrain or whether he will have to take his hat off. For the former Haas team boss and current RTL expert Günther Steiner, this is a situation that urgently needs clarification.
“The reaction has to come now, it should come, many companies have called,” said Günther Steiner in an exclusive conversation with RTL/ntv and sport.de a warning to the Red Bull team and added: “That is the most important thing.”
Steiner doesn’t know what exactly happened between Horner and the employee, but “at some point you have to deal with this issue.”
The big “question mark that is there is not good for anyone, not even for Christian,” warned the long-time Haas team boss, who was relieved of his duties in January and will be active as an F1 expert for RTL in the 2024 season – for the first time at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend (race starts on Saturday, 4 p.m., live on RTL and Sky).
“We have heard the statement from Ford, who want the case to be clarified. A decision must be made,” emphasized Steiner again, alluding to a letter from Ford CEO Jim Farley, who is Red Bull’s new engine partner. “non-negotiable values” and became “increasingly frustrated by the lack of a solution” to the Horner issue.
Former Formula 1 team boss Steiner: “Consequences must be drawn”
“We all value these values and we should. If something has happened, consequences must be drawn. Not just for American companies, that applies to society as a whole,” Steiner signed the Ford boss’s request.
In addition to the US car company, which is supposed to supply Red Bull with engines for the new technical regulations from the 2026 season, those responsible for Formula 1 at Liberty Media are also pushing for quick clarification.
According to Sky Sports, the Horner case should be clarified on Tuesday or Wednesday. The British TV station reports on an investigation report that is supposedly over 100 pages long and is now in the hands of the parent company led by managing director Oliver Mintzlaff.
He must now decide whether Horner, who denies the allegations, can continue or not.