An appeal process conducted internally at the world championship-winning team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, in Salzburg, has concluded, with a second KC clearing him of inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee.
The complainant, who remains on the staff, has been suspended since March.
A day after the initial complaint against the multi-trophy winning Horner was filed, a file alleged to contain evidence was sent to nearly 200 people in the F1 paddock, including members of the press, team principals and franchise owner Liberty Media.
The authenticity of those files has never been verified as it was sent from a generic nameless email account.
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Christian Horner was cleared following an internal investigation into his conduct at the start of the Formula One season
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The husband of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell was subject to an alleged leak of WhatsApps claiming to be related to the investigation ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix
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The internal investigation and its aftermath rocked the constructor both on and off the track (pictured: Horner with reigning world champion Max Verstappen in Belgium last month)
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A tranche of alleged communications between Horner and the complainant was leaked to the press and members of the F1 paddock during the Bahrain Grand Prix (pictured: Horner in Bahrain in February)
Horner – who has led Red Bull to six World Constructors’ Championships and seven World Drivers’ Championships during his tenure – has remained in charge of the team throughout the probe.
A statement from Red Bull said: ‘The complainant exercised the right to appeal, and the appeal was carried by another independent KC.
‘All stages of the appeal process have now been concluded, with the final outcome that the appeal is not upheld.
‘The KC’s conclusions have been accepted and adopted by Red Bull.
‘The internal process has concluded.’
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Horner, the 50-year-old husband of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was originally found not guilty of coercive behaviour ahead of the opening race of the season in Bahrain.
But the paddock was set alight when a cache of messages and photographs, purporting to have been exchanged between the F1 team boss and the employee, were leaked during the Bahrain race weekend.
The materials alleged that he made sexually suggestive comments to the employee. The veracity of the exchanges has not been verified and Horner has refused to comment on their authenticity.
But a Red Bull insider has indicated that the woman’s evidence was unreliable and indicated that her appeal was unsuccessful for this reason.
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A rift still exists between Christian Horner and Jos Verstappen, father of F1 champion Max (the pair pictured in Bahrain in February)
Red Bull’s statement did not address the complainant’s current status within the team.
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The details of the allegations surrounding Horner have never been made public, but the investigation had consumed F1 and was a major talking point early in the season.
But it has added to an already uneasy year for Red Bull, which is bidding farewell to star designer Adrian Newey – now off perfecting the BR17 trackday hypercar – and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.
A rift also remains between Horner and Jos Verstappen, father of star driver and three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Horner and Jos have lobbed accusations and denials at each other in media interviews over Verstappen senior’s perceived involvement with the complainant in the scandal.
The complaint against Horner was dismissed less than 24 hours before the first practice session of the season, and the saga largely faded into the background aside from tension between Horner and Verstappen’s father.
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(Left to right) Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and Red Bull F1 consultant Helmut Marko pictured during the Australian Grand Prix in March
Red Bull’s statement in full
‘Earlier this year a complaint raised against Christian Horner was investigated. The complaint was dealt with through the company’s grievance procedure by the appointment of an independent KC 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.
‘The KC’s conclusions have been accepted and adopted by Red Bull. The internal process has concluded.
‘The company respects the privacy of all its employees and will not be making further public comment on this matter at this time.
‘Red Bull is committed to continuing to meet the highest workplace standards.’
The tensions continued to simmer up to the F1 season’s summer break – when Jos claimed Horner vetoed his involvement in a ‘legends parade’ of classic racing cars at the Red Bull Ring as part of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Jos was reportedly due to drive Sebastian Vettel’s championship-winning RB8 car from 2012 – and alleged that the team boss stepped in because of his critical comments earlier in the season.
Horner denied the claim, telling reporters: ‘I didn’t veto it.’
The Formula 1 season resumes August 25 with the Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s home race, at the Zandvoort circuit in the northern Netherlands.
