FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem believes the furore surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is “damaging” for Formula 1.
Ben Sulayem and Horner met today during the final practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Red Bull Austria confirmed on Wednesday that Horner had been cleared following an investigation into allegations made by a female staff member. But the situation escalated yesterday when a large quantity of information allegedly relating to the matter was leaked online.
The story has been the focus of considerable worldwide media attention and overshadowed the start of the new season this weekend. Ben Sulayem is unhappy with how it reflects on the FIA’s most popular motorsport series.
“It’s damaging the sport,” he told the Financial Times. “This is damaging on a human level.”
Horner has denied the charges and refused to comment on yesterday’s leak, which he described as “anonymous speculation.” Red Bull stand by their investigation which they insist was “thorough and fair.”
Yesterday team bosses from two of Red Bull’s rivals said it was up to the FIA and FOM to verify whether Red Bull has handled the matter in a manner which reflects well on the championship. Ben Sulayem said the FIA would was prepared to “look into any complaint that comes through our compliance officer.”
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said today he believes the situation has been a distraction for Horner. But the reigning world champion, who claimed pole position for tomorrow’s season-opening race, said he and the team around him are not paying attention to it.
“From my side, and I think what I can see also from the mechanics and the engineers, we are fully focused on the car and the performance here during the weekend,” he said.
“That’s how it should be, I think. And that’s what we continue to do because it’s not our business. We are not particularly involved in that. We are here, we are paid to do our job, and that’s what we are doing and that’s what we love doing. So that’s what we focus on.”
“When I look at how Christian operates within the team, he has been an incredible team boss,” he added. “So absolutely, from the performance side of things, you can’t even question that. So that’s what I’m also dealing with.
“I speak to Christian a lot and also, of course, throughout the weekend here, he’s fully committed to the team. He’s also here for the performance, of course, probably a little bit distracted. But like I said before, we just focus on the performance side of things and that’s how we all work together.”
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