Christian Horner: “Others looked to take advantage; looking to benefit…”
Christian Horner claims unnamed people are "looking to benefit" from the situation surrounding him
Christian Horner has criticised rivals who he claims tried to “take advantage” of his investigation by Red Bull.
The employee who complained against Horner has now been suspended by Red Bull, after the team principal was cleared of the allegations made against him, which he always denied.
At the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, Horner has been bullish in demanding the attention on his investigation ends.
And he insisted that it has allowed unnamed people to seek an edge over him.
“The only reason that this has gained so much attention, obviously, is because of the leakage, and the tension that has been drawn in the media,” Horner said.
“Which has been very, very trying, in many respects.
“Particularly for my family, because it’s all been focused very much in one direction.
“What has happened, then after, is that others have looked to take advantage of it.
“Unfortunately Formula 1 is a competitive business.
“There’s been obviously elements looking to benefit from it. That’s perhaps the not-so-pretty side of our industry.”
Horner insisted he was prohibited from commenting on his accuser being suspended by Red Bull.
“It’s a complicated issue because there is a grievance process that takes place in any company,” Horner said.
“That process is confidential between the individuals.
“I’m not at liberty, unfortunately, due to that confidentiality, and out of respect to the company and, of course, the other party.
“We’re all bound by the same restrictions and so even if I would like to talk about it, I can’t because of those confidentiality restrictions.”
The added drama within Red Bull is the heated criticism from Max Verstappen’s father Jos.
Jos had demanded that Horner lose his job in charge of the F1 team, in the wake of his investigation.
But Jos is not present in Saudi Arabia, a week after he argued with Horner in Bahrain, because of a pre-arranged rally car race that he is competing in.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
