Lower than a day after System 1 Crimson Bull Racing mentioned it resolved allegations of misconduct towards workforce principal Christian Horner involving a workforce worker, a file allegedly containing doubtlessly incriminating proof towards Horner was leaked to over 200 emails, together with quite a few media retailers, Liberty Media, F1, the FIA, and the game’s 9 different workforce leaders, AP reported.
The 79 paperwork, which have been reviewed by Fortune, consisted principally of screenshots of alleged WhatsApp message exchanges that seem like between Horner and one other individual. The messages embody photos of meals and snacks, nude photographs of an unidentified man, suggestive exchanges, and what seem like photos of Horner in a number of completely different outfits, together with a jacket and pageboy cap.
In a single change, the sender tells the textual content recipient that they will do business from home after leaving their laptop computer on the manufacturing unit. In one other, the sender and the opposite social gathering seem to maintain assembly plans a secret from somebody named “Geri.” Horner’s spouse is former Spice Woman Geri Halliwell. There are a number of messages asking the textual content recipient to delete their WhatsApp messaging historical past, in addition to a textual content from the opposite social gathering asking the sender to “cease” after they despatched messages that seem to have been later deleted.
Fortune has not verified the authenticity of the recordsdata; neither has ESPN nor the AP, which beforehand reported on the trove of messages and photos despatched from a generic e mail account. Horner denied inappropriate habits once more after the alleged messages leaked.
“I received’t touch upon nameless hypothesis, however to reiterate, I’ve at all times denied the allegations,” Horner mentioned in a press release learn to journalists by a workforce spokesman, through AP. “I revered the integrity of the impartial investigation and totally cooperated with it each step of the way in which. It was an intensive and honest investigation performed by an impartial specialist barrister and it has concluded, dismissing the grievance made. I stay totally centered on the beginning of the season.”
Crimson Bull Racing didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
Crimson Bull launched an inner investigation on Feb. 5 after Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf reported allegations of “inappropriate habits” towards Horner, who rejected the claims. Horner was cleared of misconduct, and the grievances by a feminine worker have been dismissed.
F1 and Crimson Bull Racing have a historical past of turning a blind eye to inappropriate and even violent habits from large names within the sport. Former F1 driver Jos Verstappen—father to reigning champion Max Verstappen—was convicted of assault in 2000 after fracturing a sufferer’s cranium in 1998. He raced in F1 from 1994 to 2003 and makes frequent appearances within the Crimson Bull storage throughout race weekends. Over a decade later, former driver Adrian Sutil was convicted in 2012 of inflicting grievous bodily hurt, and although he didn’t have a race seat for that season, he returned to the game and drove for Power India the following 12 months.
The recordsdata have been launched when Horner was attending a observe occasion for F1’s first race of 2024, which is slated to start lower than 36 hours from time of publishing. The occasion drew over 1.3 million viewers in 2023, a part of the explosion of the game’s reputation within the U.S. lately. F1 has an enterprise worth of $18.6 billion, together with debt, in keeping with Sportico. Its progress is partially due to Netflix’s hit docuseries Drive to Survive, by which Horner is a number one character. Crimson Bull is taken into account the benchmark workforce this season after successful decisive back-to-back workforce championships. Star driver Verstappen has received three consecutive drivers’ championships in a row for the workforce.
Horner performed an instrumental function in Crimson Bull’s success and has helmed the workforce since its 2005 inception, when the vitality drink firm purchased the workforce from Jaguar as a part of its bid to construct a sporting empire—and in the end generate drink gross sales. In its first ten years in F1, Crimson Bull invested $1.2 billion in its eponymous workforce, which is now valued at $2.6 billion and had an estimated 2023 income of $510 million, in keeping with Forbes. Horner is the longest-tenured workforce principal within the F1 paddock.
Crimson Bull has received six constructor’s titles, seven drivers’ titles, and over 100 grands prix. It additional prolonged its grasp in F1 in 2005 when it purchased a second workforce, now known as Visa CashApp RB, which generated an extra $260 million in income in 2023. The workforce additionally owes its accolades partially to World Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey, who led the design efforts for all of Crimson Bull’s championship-winning automobiles. Per Sports activities Illustrated, Newey and Horner have a mutual safety clause of their respective contracts, connecting their fates ought to one go away the workforce.
The workforce’s success in F1 has, within the firm’s personal phrases, made its advertising and marketing gamble repay. In November, Horner mentioned Crimson Bull Racing’s success correlated to vitality drink gross sales, calling the workforce the “the largest advertising and marketing impression that the beverage firm has.” The drink has 13% of the vitality drink market share worldwide.
“They see it, they will measure it. It’s unbelievable the quantity of consumption of Crimson Bull that’s occurring,” Horner informed CNBC.
