Christian Horner SPOTTED at top secret Red Bull test run as he awaits decision in ‘inappropriate behaviour’ probe
RED Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has been spotted at a secret test run as his team gears up for the start of the F1 season.
Horner, 50, battled to rescue his career during an eight-hour grilling last Friday after he was accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a former female staffer.
The results of the crunch talks have not been made public – meaning Horner’s future at Red Bull still hangs in the balance.
But the team boss – who is married to Spice Girl Geri Halliwell – stuck to his work commitments and was at Silverstone for the shakedown for the new RB20 car as planned.
F1 teams are allowed two filming days to capture content of their cars on track – and it also offers the potential to run the car for the first time.
Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez got their first taste of this season’s challenger – with the Dutchman looking to defend his world drivers’ title.
Horner was seen laughing with the team as they looked at photos and footage from the day at Silverstone.
He is also scheduled to be at the season launch event on Thursday at their Milton Keynes HQ.
F1 was rocked by the news that the sport’s longest-standing team principal had been placed under investigation by Red Bull’s Austria-based parent company.
It allegedly compiled a “dossier of incriminating material” regarding “inappropriate and controlling behaviour” towards one woman, The Telegraph reported.
Horner has reportedly referred to the allegations as “nuts” and said publicly: “I completely deny these claims.”
Horner was reportedly urged to resign by Bernie Ecclestone after the allegations came to light.
The 93-year-old billionaire former chief of F1 allegedly got involved and advised Horner to step down as Red Bull team principal.
And F1 insiders do not “expect him to survive in his role”, according to BBC Sport.
The investigation also raises the question of who could take over the helm of the all-conquering racing team of Verstappen.
But an F1 source told The Sun that “Christian has not been sacked or asked to resign and he is not going to resign”.
They also revealed the investigation is nowhere near it’s end – with it potentially dragging into the new F1 season.
The insider said: “This is not a trial and we are not going to have an answer and an outcome by the end of the day.
“This is not something that is going to be rectified that quickly.
“People are expecting this to be over before the start of the F1 season, but that just isn’t going to happen.”
The Red Bull Racing boss, who has led the Austrian team since its formation in 2005, was quizzed by an independent barrister in a private location late into the afternoon on Friday.
Horner forced a smile as he was picked up in a chauffeur-driven car from his North London home ahead of the critical hearing.
The probe threatens to overshadow the start of the new F1 season — with the first practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix taking place on February 29.
His Spice Girl wife Geri, 51, is understood to be standing by her husband, who she married in 2015.
She has told pals: “Christian has done nothing wrong.”
It comes as…
- Christian Horner faced an eight-hour grilling over allegations made by the female staffer
- He was pictured looking grim-faced ahead of the talks
- The Red Bull chief was urged to resign by Bernie Eccclestone
- Horner is ‘not expected to survive’ the investigation
- Probe could drag on for months into the F1 season
- The five candidates who could replace Horner at Red Bull
- Wife Geri Halliwell tells pals ‘Christian’s done nothing wrong’
- Horner probe comes amid ‘power struggle’ at Red Bull
Horner is said to have privately vowed to his friends he will “clear his name and come through this,” a source told the Daily Mail.
However, the scandal engulfing her husband has blown a “Grand Canyon-sized crack” right in the middle of her “super-perfect, super-posh life,” another source claimed.
Horner has overseen a huge period of success for the racing team – winning multiple F1 championships with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen.
Red Bull has won seven Formula One world drivers’ championships and six world constructors’ titles under Horner’s leadership.
Last season, the team won 21 of the 22 races on the global F1 tour, and Verstappen, 26, won the drivers’ crown.
Horner was awarded a CBE for services to motor sport in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List.
Ahead of the probe into Horner’s conduct, there were reports of an unrelated internal power struggle waging within Red Bull.
Rumours of issues between the team’s leadership have swirled since the death of billionaire co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022 and the team drafted a new board of directors.
Former RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff was appointed chief executive.
Despite Red Bull enjoying its most successful season in F1 history in 2023, there was speculation of a rift between Horner and Helmut Marko – Red Bull GmBH’s motorsport advisor.
Rumours even went as far as to suggest Horner was determined to get rid of Marko, 80, from the team.
A look at Christian Horner's life and career
CHRISTIAN Horner is among the most well-known names in Formula One having helped build Red Bull into one of the biggest teams in the sport.
1973 – Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
1991 – Wins a Formula Renault scholarship after impressing in karting races
1993-1997 – Competed in a host of competitions including British Formula Three, British Formula Two, and Formula 3000
1997 – Founded and developed the F3000 team Arden
1999 – Retired from driving and continued developing the Arden team
2005 – Appointed head of Red Bull team, becoming the youngest ever team principal at that time
2009 – Wins his first races as team principal with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
2010 – Wins the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with Vettel – the first of four doubles in a row
2013 – Has a daughter with ex-wife Beverly Allen shortly before the couple split
2014 – Gets engaged to Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell
2015 – Marries Halliwell in Woburn, Bedfordshire
2017 – Horner and Halliwell welcome their son
2021 – Wins another Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen, beating Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season
2022-23 – Red Bull win the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship two years in a row
