FORMULA ONE legend Martin Brundle has weighed in on Christian Horner’s leaked messages.
Red Bull chief Horner had a tranche of messages and photos that show details of private conversations between himself and an unknown female employee leaked online yesterday.
The WhatsApp messages, which were sent to F1 teams and media outlets, were revealed just 24 hours after Horner was cleared of inappropriate behaviour following a three-week internal investigation.
And the bombshell leak has left the F1 world in shock, including Sky Sports presenter and former driver Brundle.
The 64-year-old was bringing viewers coverage ahead of this weekend’s season opener in Bahrain when he discussed the new developments.
He said: “My personal take is that I am very sad about the whole thing, a lot of people are getting dragged into this.
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“F1 is all over the front pages, all over the internet all around the world and it’s not about the racing, it is not about who is going to win this Grand Prix and who is going to be on pole position.
“So I think it is unquestionable that it is not good for F1, what is going on, and I do believe that some actions need to be taken to move this along and to bring this to an absolute conclusion.
“But as I have said, it feels to me like this is the beginning of the story rather than the end of it but we will have to wait and see.
“We do know that all allegations have been denied, but it is just a horrible situation.”
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Horner has already released a statement in which he seemingly labels the leaks as “anonymous speculation”.
It read: “I won’t comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations.
“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.”
Horner’s marriage to Spice Girl Geri Haliwell is now said to be “in question” after she was left “extremely humiliated” by the latest developments.
The Team Principal was in Bahrain when the messages leaked on Thursday – and he was pictured at training on Friday.
He jetted to the Gulf kingdom on Wednesday before he was cleared of wrongdoing after being accused of inappropriate behaviour and sending improper messages.
Geri meanwhile was back home in the UK, but is now understood to be in Bahrain to be with her husband.
A look at Christian Horner’s life and career
CHRISTIAN Horner is among the most well-known names in Formula One having helped build Red Bull into one of the biggest teams in the sport.
1973 – Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
1991 – Wins a Formula Renault scholarship after impressing in karting races
1993-1997 – Competed in a host of competitions including British Formula Three, British Formula Two, and Formula 3000
1997 – Founded and developed the F3000 team Arden
1999 – Retired from driving and continued developing the Arden team
2005 – Appointed head of Red Bull team, becoming the youngest ever team principal at that time
2009 – Wins his first races as team principal with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
2010 – Wins the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with Vettel – the first of four doubles in a row
2013 – Has a daughter with ex-wife Beverly Allen shortly before the couple split
2014 – Gets engaged to Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell
2015 – Marries Halliwell in Woburn, Bedfordshire
2017 – Horner and Halliwell welcome their son
2021 – Wins another Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen, beating Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the season
2022-23 – Red Bull win the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship two years in a row
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
