Christian Horner reveals how F1 rivals 'tried to break Red Bull system' after his misconduct allegations

Christian Horner has lifted the lid on how he dealt with misconduct allegations in the middle of trying to run the Red Bull F1 team.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Horner was accused of inappropriate behaviour with a female employee, something he denied and following an independent KC investigation was cleared of any wrongdoing before the start of that campaign.

Horner, who was team principal at Red Bull from 2005 before his unrelated dismissal after the 2025 British Grand Prix, opened up on how just walking away from the team in the face of the allegations was the easy move to make.

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Horner: Timing of allegations not coincidental

He told the Up To Speed podcast: I'm a little bit confined on what I can say, but the timing of it all was not coincidental. I mean, it was a very, very tough period. And the easiest thing would have been to roll over and walk away.

"But I stuck to my principles and believed in the process. Because a lot, obviously, was going on behind the scenes in terms of in the build-up to the 2024 season and we're building an engine, we're preparing to defend a championship, and there's an investigation, obviously, that was conducted as with any grievance that is raised in within a company.

"Now this was taken outside of the company and placed with an independent KC, King's Council, that are bound by their own statutes and were employed to go and do a thorough job on it.

"And there's a huge uncertainty during that period. And I spent my time, I went through the process, they came to a conclusion, they dismissed all the allegations.

"And then of course there's a right to appeal. So, the appeal went in, and then there's another KC appointed to make sure that, again, it's truly, truly independent."

Geri support invaluable

Horner added that the impact from the allegations hit his personal life too but claimed that his wife Geri was supportive throughout the period.

"In the meantime, there'd been certain leakage to media, and that then puts your family in the spotlight and the media circus," he added.

"That was tough. That tests you as a person, as a character, and the strength of your family and your partner and your wife.

"And I'm married to a very public lady, and, Geri’s support during that period was phenomenal, and we came through it."

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Keeping Red Bull winning

During this period around the appeal against Horner, he continued to work for Red Bull, who started the 2024 season in superb style winning the first four out of five races with Max Verstappen. Horner revealed the internal support he got from inside the team at this time.

He said: "We're still winning races. So, every time I crossed that red line as you walked in the garage, it was like, 'Oof' because I knew the people, the mechanics, the technicians, the people in the garage weren't judging me.

"So, you put your headphones on, you do your job, and be with your team, and then you come off. In that early period of ‘24, of course, there was a huge amount of noise, but you find out who your friends are. And you find out a lot about yourself as well.

"So, it was it was obviously very, very difficult. I think it makes you stronger, it gives you perspective, and I wasn't prepared to be defined by this. I was tremendously fortunate within the team. I had amazing, amazing support."

Dirty tricks from rival F1 teams

While Horner took support from inside Red Bull, he claims that rival F1 teams used all the tricks they could from the allegations to destabilise Red Bull, which he admits added extra pressure.

You have to remember, we were winning everything. And of course, your rivals they sniff a weakness, and they'll just needle and needle and needle through the media, through whatever, to put pressure because they want the system ultimately to break down.

"Because they know that that will impact results. And so, the pressure that was coming again from certain sectors of within the paddock wasn't pleasant either.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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