Christian Horner has discussed the scandal that affected him earlier this year (Image: Getty)
has revealed that he ‘never’ felt like he was going to have to leave during the ‘inappropriate behaviour’ scandal that was hanging over himself and the reigning world champions earlier this season.
’s team principal was accused of inappropriate behaviour by an unnamed female employee, but after a lengthy internal review, the 51-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing. An appeal was lodged by the employee in question, but the verdict was not overturned, clearing Horner to continue in his role.
The saga put strain on several internal relationships, with Jos Verstappen calling for Horner to leave the team, and reports suggesting that Adrian Newey’s departure in May was at least partially provoked by deteriorating relations with the team principal.
Speaking to the about the saga, Horner explained: “There was a lot of noise and distraction earlier in the year and then the car wasn’t performing and everyone kept their head and worked hard and we got performance on the car in the back end of the year and we have worked our way through it.
“In times of difficulty and when stones are being thrown, it actually galvanises a team. I think there was an element of ‘f*** you’ from the team this year.
“Our people were saying ‘We are a strong team, no matter what you throw at us, bring it on’. I never felt I might have to walk away. I believed in myself. I believed in the process. I trusted in the process that was scrupulously applied by the company and I just had to trust to that.
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The saga strained some internal relations at Red Bull (Image: Getty)
“When I was on the plane to Bahrain, I didn’t know whether I was going to be at the race or not. But I had to believe in the process. I have had tremendous support and backing from the shareholders and from within the company.
“It was actually quite emotional before the first race when I addressed the factory. I do the usual summary of the testing and what the objectives are going into the season, and it was absolutely rammed.”
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Horner and have still endured a challenging season, despite their strong start to the campaign, and ’s P16 qualifying result for the Las Vegas Grand Prix has dealt a significant blow to the team’s hopes of finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship.
With starting from P4 and Charles Leclerc in P4, have the best grid slots of the top three teams, while ’s starts alongside his championship rival on the third row of the grid.