Horner has been the subject of a detailed investigation by the energy drink company over allegations made against him by an employee. After an eight-week trial, which also involved an independent lawyer, the complaint against Horner was dismissed on Wednesday and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
But because Red Bull has provided almost no explanation for its findings and has made clear that it will keep the details of the matter private, there has been some concern that things have been swept under the rug.
Speaking at the opening round of the F1 season in Bahrain, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown both called on F1's commercial rights holder and governing body of motoring to take steps to ensure that everything is conducted correctly.
Asked about the conclusions of Red Bull's investigation, Wolff said: “Well, I just read the statement, which was quite simple.”
“My personal opinion is that we can't look behind the scenes. Ultimately there's a woman in an organization who spoke to HR and said there's a problem and it's being investigated. And yesterday the F1 received the message: 'Everything is fine. We have looked into the matter'.”
“I believe that with the aspiration of a global sport on such critical issues, greater transparency is needed. And I wonder what F1's position is.”
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“We are competitors. We are a team and we can have our personal opinions or not. But is it more a general reaction or an action that as a sport must lead us to evaluate what is right and what is wrong in that situation?”.
Brown added: “I read this statement. I think, from what I've seen, there continues to be a lot of rumors and speculation and questions.”
“I think the sanctioning body has a responsibility and an authority to our sport, to our fans and to all of us in Formula 1… I think they need to make sure that things have been completely transparent with them.”
He added: “I think until then there will continue to be speculation because there are a lot of unanswered questions about the whole process. I think those who run the sport need to be able to draw the line.”
“Until then, I think there will continue to be a certain level of speculation from people, and I don't think that's healthy for the sport.”
Wolff believes that simply accepting Red Bull's statement without further due diligence being done on the details of the matter is not a good thing for F1.
“I just think that, as a sport, we can't afford to leave things vague and in the shadows on critical topics like this, because that will get us into trouble,” he said.
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