Horner ‘won’t comment on anonymous speculation’ after claimed leak

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has issued a statement saying that he “won’t comment on anonymous speculation” after material purporting to be evidence from the investigation into his behavior was circulated to Formula 1 figures.

Senior personnel at F1, the FIA and teams, as well as media outlets including RACER, received an email from an anonymous source – under the name Feb Twenty Ninth – with a Google Drive link containing 79 files of what is claimed to be evidence that was part of the independent investigation. The authenticity of the contents have not yet been verified, and Horner refused to discuss their legitimacy.

“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation,” Horner said. “But to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations. I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully co-operated with it every step of the way.

“It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made. I remain fully focused on the start of the season.”

On Wednesday, Red Bull GmbH announced its decision to dismiss the grievance raised about Horner’s alleged behavior towards a female colleague, and said it would not be commenting further because “the investigation report is confidential and contains the private information of the parties and third parties who assisted in the investigation”.

Horner remained in his role as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing throughout the process, and is present in Bahrain ahead of this weekend’s season-opening grand prix.

Rival team principals Zak Brown and Toto Wolff had already called on the FIA to seek further details of the investigation prior to the circulation of the files.