01 March 2024 , 21:03
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FIA boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem has admitted that the ongoing Christian Horner and Red Bull saga is "damaging the sport".
Horner has faced allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" from a female staff member but was cleared of any wrongdoing in an internal investigation on the eve of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. Since then messages and photos have been leaked, alleged to have been between Horner and the staff member.
After the latest twist on Thursday, the speculation has continued despite Red Bull attempting to draw a line under the issue 24 hours earlier. And, ahead of the season opener, the man at the head of Formula 1 concedes it is not a good look for the sport.
Ben Sulayem told the Financial Times : “It’s damaging the sport . . . This is damaging on a human level." The FIA boss did confirm though that the governing body had no plans to conduct its own investigation at this point as they had not received a formal complaint themselves.
Horner has denied any wrongdoing and has refused to comment on speculation. However, he did issue a statement on Thursday evening in which he restated his position on the matter.
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"I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate I have always denied the allegations," he said. "I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated 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."
Several of his colleagues though, namely Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and McLaren chief Zak Brown, want to see more clarity as the situation engulfs the sport.
Wolff said: "My personal opinion is we can't really look behind the curtain. At the end of the day, there is a lady in an organisation that has spoken to HR and said there is an issue. It was investigated and yesterday the sport has received a message, 'it's all fine. We've looked at it.'
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem is concerned about the image of the sport (PA)"And I believe that with the aspirations as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what the sport's position is. We are competitors, we are a team and we can have our own personal opinions or not, but it's more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to assess what is right in that situation and what is wrong."
Brown claimed: "I think the sanctioning body has a responsibility and authority to our sport, to our officials. I think all of us in Formula 1 are ambassadors for the sport on and off the track, like you see in other sports, and so I think they need to make sure that things have been fully transparent with them.
"And I don't know what those conversations are and that needs to be thorough, fully transparent, and that they come to the same conclusion that has been given by Red Bull, and that they've agreed with the outcome. But I think until then, there'll continue to be speculation because there are a lot of unanswered questions about the whole process.
"So I think that's what's needed by those that run the sport to really be able to draw a line under it. Until then, I think there'll continue to be some level of speculation by people and I don't think that's healthy for the sport."