F1 must learn from Christian Horner investigation as Red Bull boss faces ‘sexting probe’, says Merc boss Toto Wolff
MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff says F1 has to “learn from” Red Bull’s investigation into boss Christian Horner following accusations of inappropriate behaviour.
Horner, 50, is the subject of an internal investigation by Red Bull Racing‘s parent company based in Austria.
It follows a complaint raised by a member of staff about the F1 boss, who denies the allegations made against him.
Red Bull are yet to reveal details of their investigation, with Horner quizzed for his side of the events some 12 days ago.
Wolff was asked about his thoughts on how the investigation was being handled by Red Bull and the length of time it was taking.
He was also quizzed as to what message that had on F1’s “attitude to sexual equality”.
Wolff said: “It’s clear. Formula One and what the teams do, we stand for inclusion, equality, fairness, diversity. And it’s not only talking about it, but living it day in day out.
“These are the standards that we’re setting ourselves. We live in a global sport, one of the most important sport’s platforms in the world. And we are role models.
“But having said that, there’s a lot of speculation that’s been happening over the last few weeks. Speculation that we’ve heard of, and lots of things that are going on.
“What Red Bull has started, with an independent investigation, if this is done in the right way with transparency then it will be something we will talk about.
“When we know what the outcomes are, and what it means for Formula One and how we can learn from that, because we want to talk about racing cars, and we want to talk about the sport rather than these kinds of very, very critical topics.
“It is more or just the team’s issue. It’s an issue for all of Formula One and in general for every individual that works out there.”
Horner is currently in Bahrain for F1’s pre-season testing and is due to face the media on Thursday in a usual press conference as scheduled.
The F1 season kicks off in Bahrain on Saturday March 2nd.
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