The woman at the centre of the Christian Horner scandal is set to be grilled by investigators again this week as part of her appeal process.
In February, the Red Bull team principal, husband of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was cleared after a female employee of the Formula 1 champions accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The accuser, who has since been suspended on full pay by Red Bull, exercised her right to appeal the outcome of the investigation.
According to The Sun, a new independent barrister has been appointed to handle the matter and the complainant will be re-interviewed ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Some reports claim that the reason she was suspended was because she was ‘dishonest’ during the initial probe, though sources close to the complainant sayshe is ‘very upset, angry, scared, intimidated and lonely’.
While the saga had been quiet of late, it has overshadowed the F1 season, not least because of leaked texts and images supposedly related to the probe, as well as the rumours that reigning champion Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull because of the scandal.
There is hope from within the team that when the appeal process is finished the matter will be over for good, with an F1 source telling The Sun: ‘No one wants this to drag on any longer than it needs to.
‘Red Bull has made it clear that once the appeal is over, they are willing to be fully transparent.
‘They don’t want to do anything that compromises the process but when it’s done, the gloves are off.’
Christian Horner investigation – what we know
It is unclear how transparent they can be though given both sides have signed confidentially reports, while there has been suggestion that if her appeal fails the complainant will take the case to an employment tribunal, which could lead to the details becoming public.
Moreover, she has separately lodged a complaint against Horner with the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
F1 heads to Shanghai for the first time since 2019, with the last few grand prix cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and this is also the first Sprint weekend of the season.
After four races Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez lead the drivers’ championship, with Red Bull top of the constructors’ table by 21 points from Ferrari.
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