Christian Horner is confident he will remain Red Bull team boss despite facing an ongoing investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour, something he labelled a “distraction” ahead of the new Formula One season.
Horner, who was accused by an F1 team employee of controlling behaviour, has strenuously denied the claims made against him.
The Brit, boss of the team since it joined F1 in 2005, faced a hearing into the matter on Feb. 9, although there is no time frame for when a decision about his future will be made.
It has been widely speculated Horner will lose his job as a result of the investigation.
Asked at Red Bull’s 2024 car launch, the first time he has faced the media since the story broke, if he is confident he will still be team boss into the new season and beyond, he was unequivocal.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Horner told ESPN. “Obviously there’s a process that’s ongoing. I’m very focused on the season ahead.”
Red Bull goes into the new season — which begins on March 2 with the Bahrain Grand Prix on the back of the most dominant season in F1 history, where it won all but one race.
The Horner situation has left a shadow hanging over the team, who won all but one race in 2023, the most dominant season ever recorded by a team.
“Inevitably there has been a distraction but the team are very together,” he added, in a wider media session. “Everybody is focused on the season ahead, so it’s been very much business as normal. The support has been fantastic.”
He added: “I’m very focused on the season ahead. Great to see the new car launched today and I’m looking forward to seeing it run in Bahrain next week. It’s business as normal.
“I think everybody’s keen to get to a conclusion, but there’s a process that has to be respected, that’s only right, and in the fullness of time that will be completed.”
Red Bull has won back-to-back constructors championships, while driver Max Verstappen has won three straight drivers titles — both team and driver are heavy favourites to defend their crowns in 2024.
Horner has overseen Red Bull’s entire history, which included another spell of consecutive championships between 2010 and 2013.
He was hired by Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in October 2022. Sources have told ESPN his death has left something of a power vacuum at the top level of the company.
Many reports about Horner’s situation have suggested there are movements above his head within the wider Red Bull company to oust him from power.
It was the Red Bull brand, not the F1 team, that first launched the investigation.
Horner dismissed that suggestion, saying: “We’re very united. We’ve always had tremendous support from the shareholders since Dietrich’s passing. The shareholders have been incredibly supportive, and you can see the level of investment there is on campus here with powertrains, with the future of Formula One, that we’re one team.”
He then reaffirmed it is “business as normal” for Red Bull going into the new season.
Source: www.espn.com