Christian Horner admits to being “distracted” by the ongoing investigation
In his first public appearance since the investigation against him, Christian Horner admitted that the case had been a source of distraction during the pre-season.
As a reminder, Christian Horner has been accused of inappropriate behavior within Red Bull Racing and an internal investigation has been opened by Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of the Austrian brand. Despite the uncertainty regarding his future and the outcome of the investigation, the British director of Red Bull Racing was indeed present during the unveiling of the new RB20 car.
Horner then admitted that this whole affair had an impact during the pre-season in Milton Keynes, but he insisted that the team was united behind him. Inevitably, there was a distraction but the team is very united, he said. Everyone is focused on the upcoming season, so it was as if nothing had happened.
The support has been fantastic. Obviously, my focus is very much on the upcoming season, as usual. There is an investigation that I am participating in and fully collaborating with, but it is happening in the background while we prepare for the upcoming season.
(I) I think the team is preparing for the upcoming season, we are in good shape and completely focused on the race, he continued. (I) We are looking forward to being in Bahrain next week and seeing the RB20 in action, and the thing that is catching everyone’s attention is the car. We are very united and focused on this goal.
We are one team.
Since the beginning of the investigation, numerous rumors have been circulating about a potential rift between Horner and various parties of the team, whether it be with Helmut Marko, the Verstappen family, or even the Red Bull brand.
The team manager then made a point to reject all these rumors. “We are very united,” he declared. “Since the passing of Dietrich [Mateschitz, co-founder of Red Bull and founder of Red Bull Racing], we have always received tremendous support from the shareholders.”
The shareholders have been incredibly supportive, and you can see the level of investment here on the campus with the powertrains, with the future of Formula 1, that we are one team.
Christian Horner then concluded on the evolution of his operational role within the team with the expression “business as usual”; business continues as if nothing has happened.
