Christian Horner offers cash to cover up sexual misconduct claims against Red Bull boss

According to reports, Christian Horner made a settlement offer of £650,000 to a writer for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf prior to the public disclosure of allegations of sexual misbehavior involving the principal of a Formula 1 team from a Red Bull employee.

As an inquiry into reports of “inappropriate behavior” continues ahead of pre-season testing, which gets underway in Bahrain on Wednesday, February 21, Horner refutes the accusations made by a female Red Bull employee.

As reported by De Telegraaf, who initially revealed the information on the Red Bull team manager, Horner faced allegations of sexual assault in December 2023.

According to the Dutch media site, Horner sent the employee several sexually provocative messages over a long period of time, and rumors about them were making the rounds in the F1 paddock during the 2023 season.

Since the De Telegraaf made public the details of the independent Red Bull inquiry, Horner has refuted all of the allegations.

Since then, Jos Verstappen is said to have leaked the information to the Dutch press, according to Motorsport-Total.com, and Helmut Marko has not yet defended his colleague in response to questions. It’s even said that his relationship with Adrian Newey is in disarray.

There are rumors that Horner is supported by Chalerm Yoovidhya, a 51 percent shareholder in Red Bull, despite possible conflicts between Horner, Marko, and other important members of the racing team, such as Oliver Mintzlaff, director of Red Bull GmbH.

Horner: Nothing unusual
At Red Bull’s car launch in Milton Keynes on Thursday, Horner, along with the rest of the squad, including Newey, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez, performed media responsibilities.

Despite accusations that surfaced in early February, the 50-year-old, who has led the F1 team since its formation in 2005, maintains that he is receiving adequate assistance.

Horner told the media, including Total-Motorsport.com, “It was inevitable that there would be a distraction, but the team is very together and everybody’s focused on the season ahead.” Thus, everything has been going pretty much as usual. Indeed, the assistance has been outstanding.