Lower than a day after System 1 Red Bull Racing mentioned it resolved allegations of misconduct in opposition to workforce principal Christian Horner involving a workforce worker, a file allegedly containing probably incriminating proof in opposition to 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 largely of screenshots of alleged WhatsApp message exchanges that seem like between Horner and one other individual. The messages embody footage of meals and snacks, nude photographs of an unidentified man, suggestive exchanges, and what seem like footage of Horner in a number of completely different outfits, together with a jacket and pageboy cap.
In a single trade, the sender tells the textual content recipient that they’ll do business from home after leaving their laptop computer on the manufacturing facility. In one other, the sender and the opposite celebration seem to maintain assembly plans a secret from somebody named “Geri.” Horner’s spouse is former Spice Lady 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 celebration asking the sender to “stop” 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 footage despatched from a generic e mail account. Horner denied inappropriate conduct once more after the alleged messages leaked.
“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations,” Horner mentioned in a press release learn to journalists by a workforce spokesman, through AP. “I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way. It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister and it has concluded, dismissing the complaint made. I remain fully focused on the start of the season.”
Pink Bull Racing didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
Pink Bull launched an inner investigation on Feb. 5 after Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf reported allegations of “inappropriate behavior” in opposition to Horner, who rejected the claims. Horner was cleared of misconduct, and the grievances by a feminine worker have been dismissed.
F1 and Pink Bull Racing have a historical past of turning a blind eye to inappropriate and even violent conduct 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 Pink 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 Drive India the subsequent yr.
The recordsdata have been launched when Horner was attending a apply 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 popularity within the U.S. lately. F1 has an enterprise worth of $18.6 billion, together with debt, in response to Sportico. Its development is partially because of Netflix’s hit docuseries Drive to Survive, by which Horner is a number one character. Pink Bull is taken into account the benchmark workforce this season after profitable decisive back-to-back workforce championships. Star driver Verstappen has gained three consecutive drivers’ championships in a row for the workforce.
Horner performed an instrumental position in Pink Bull’s success and has helmed the team since its 2005 inception, when the power 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, Pink 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 response to Forbes. Horner is the longest-tenured workforce principal within the F1 paddock.
Pink Bull has won 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 referred to as Visa CashApp RB, which generated a further $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 Pink Bull’s championship-winning vehicles. Per Sports 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 Pink Bull Racing’s success correlated to power drink gross sales, calling the workforce the “the biggest marketing impact that the beverage company has.” The drink has 13% of the power drink market share worldwide.
“They see it, they can measure it. It’s incredible the amount of consumption of Red Bull that is happening,” Horner told CNBC.
