Martin Brundle made a plea for action to bring the Christian Horner situation to a full conclusion as Red Bull‘s decision to clear him of wrongdoing was questioned after a leak of messages and images allegedly sent between Horner and the female complainant.
Parent company Red Bull GmbH concluded their investigation into accusations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour against Horner from a team employee by dismissing the grievance but didn’t specify any details. Horner continues to deny any wrongdoing.
The story has dominated Formula 1 headlines and completely overshadowed the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, rival bosses Zak Brown and Toto Wolff had already criticised Red Bull‘s lack of transparency around the case and the FIA is also considering whether to intervene.
“My personal take is I’m very sad about the whole thing,” Brundle said on Sky Sports F1. “A lot of people getting dragged into this, I think it’s indisputable that F1 is all over the front pages, all over the internet all around the world and it’s not about the racing.
“It’s not about who’s going to win this grand prix or who’s going to be on pole position. So I think it’s unquestionable that what’s going on isn’t good for F1 and I do believe that some actions need to be taken to move this along and to bring this to an absolute conclusion.
“But as I said earlier, it feels to me like it’s the beginning of the story rather than the end of it. We’ll have to wait and see but we do know is that all allegations have been denied, and that it’s just a horrible situation, whichever way you look at it, isn’t it?”
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What could happen next for Horner?
Horner was called for a meeting with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem during FP3 of the Bahrain GP after continuing to deny any wrongdoing throughout the process.
The FIA does have the power to intervene but is said to be weighing up its options with Ben Sulayem also meeting with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After Red Bull aimed to have the situation finalised before cars hit the track in anger for the first grand prix of the season, it continues to be the first topic on anyone’s lips ahead of a qualifying session where the pace of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez is also up for debate.
