Column: Red Bull’s mysterious investigation into Christian Horner overshadowing start of F1 season
Associated PressTesting for the upcoming Formula 1 season began this week and there was Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull Racing, still leading his team as it begins its bid for a fourth consecutive championship. Horner was also front and center a week ago at Red Bull’s launch of its 2024 car — a virtual highlight reel of the success Horner has built since he became team principal in 2005. But as he continues with “business as normal” — Horner’s own words at the launch last week — nobody else can figure out how he has remained on the job during an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct that parent company Red Bull announced on Feb. 5. Visa, which in January was announced as title sponsor for Red Bull’s second team, and main Red Bull sponsor Oracle have both declined comment on the Horner investigation. “But again, we all have to look each other in the mirror and make sure we are posing the right questions internally and acting in a way that we can only be proud of, not today, but in the next 10 years.” For now, the Horner investigation — not Lewis Hamilton’s stunning decision to move to Ferrari in 2025 or the rejection of Michael Andretti by F1 to join the series or Haas’ offseason firing of team principal and “DTS” star Guenther Steiner — is the only topic of discussion with a season looming.