In early February 2024, Red Bull Racing publicly confirmed that an investigation had been opened into its team principal Christian Horner after a female employee alleged inappropriate behaviour. The complaint was handled by Red Bull GmbH, the Austrian parent company of the Formula One team, which appointed an independent King's Counsel barrister to conduct the probe. On 28 February 2024, Red Bull GmbH announced that the grievance against Horner had been dismissed. The complainant was then suspended by Red Bull. The affair did not end there. It exposed a deep power struggle between the Thai and Austrian factions of Red Bull GmbH's ownership and contributed to the departure of several senior figures, most notably design chief Adrian Newey. As of mid-2025, Horner remains team principal.
The case became one of the most closely watched episodes in Formula One's recent corporate history, not because of the allegations themselves, which were never detailed publicly, but because of what the investigation revealed about the governance of the sport's dominant team.
The nature of the allegations and the investigation process
How the complaint surfaced
Red Bull GmbH disclosed the investigation in early February 2024 following a complaint from a female employee against Horner, who has been team principal since 2005. The company engaged an independent King's Counsel barrister to review the allegations. The precise nature of the alleged behaviour was not made public by any party. Red Bull GmbH stated only that it concerned inappropriate conduct, and the firm declined to release the barrister's full findings.
Leaks and paddock pressure
The decision to use an external barrister was intended to insulate the process from corporate politics. In practice, the probe became the centre of a public power struggle. Leaks to the media from both sides of the dispute appeared throughout February 2024, and the paddock at the Bahrain Grand Prix that month was dominated by questions about Horner's future.
Dismissal and suspension
On 28 February 2024, Red Bull GmbH issued a statement saying the grievance had been dismissed. The statement offered no detail on the barrister's reasoning. The complainant was subsequently suspended by the firm, a move that generated further criticism from groups including Formula One's own diversity and inclusion campaigners.
The Thai-Austrian power struggle inside Red Bull GmbH
A fractured ownership
Red Bull GmbH is a privately held company with a split ownership structure. The Thai side, led by Chalerm Yoovidhya, holds a majority stake. The Austrian side, associated with the late Dietrich Mateschitz's founding family, holds the remainder. For years this balance had been stable. The Horner investigation broke that equilibrium.
Public divisions
During the controversy, the Thai majority ownership was reported to support Horner, while the Austrian faction was seen as more open to a change in leadership. These divisions played out in public. Helmut Marko, the Austrian former driver who runs Red Bull's driver development programme and sits on the team's board, made ambiguous public statements about the situation. At one point Marko suggested he might leave if Horner stayed, which would have threatened Max Verstappen's continued commitment to the team. Verstappen had said publicly that Marko's presence was a condition of his own contract.
An uneasy stalemate
The power struggle did not produce a clear winner on either side. Horner kept his job. Marko stayed. But the episode permanently altered the relationship between the team and its Austrian parent, and between the two shareholder camps.
The departure of Adrian Newey and other senior exits
The architect walks
Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer and the most celebrated designer in modern Formula One, announced his departure in May 2024 after 19 years with the team. He joined Aston Martin in 2025. Newey's exit was the single biggest blow to the team's future prospects. No other designer has a comparable record of championship-winning cars across multiple regulatory eras.
Timing and silence
The brief does not establish a direct causal link between the Horner controversy and Newey's decision. However, the timing was notable. Newey left less than three months after the investigation concluded, and he made no public statement supporting Horner or the team's leadership during the crisis. Several other senior engineering and commercial staff also departed in the months following the investigation. The cumulative effect was a significant loss of institutional knowledge at a moment when Red Bull faced a major regulatory change in 2026.
Winning despite the drain
Despite these departures, the team continued to win. Red Bull Racing took the Constructors' Championship in 2024, and Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Drivers' Championship that year.
Impact on performance, sponsors, and the paddock
On-track dominance holds
The controversy had no measurable effect on Red Bull Racing's on-track results in 2024. The team won the Constructors' Championship, and Verstappen won the Drivers' Championship, both for a second consecutive year. The car designed before Newey's departure remained dominant. However, the team's margin of advantage shrank as the season progressed, and rivals including McLaren closed the gap.
Sponsors and scrutiny
Sponsor relationships were tested. Some partners privately expressed discomfort with the negative media coverage, but no major sponsor left the team during the period covered by this brief. The distraction was most visible in the paddock itself. The Bahrain Grand Prix press conference in February 2024 was dominated by questions about Horner, and several rival team principals called for greater transparency from Red Bull GmbH about the investigation's conclusions.
Regulatory hands-off
The Formula One governing body, the FIA, did not open its own investigation. The sport's commercial rights holder, Liberty Media, also took no formal action. The matter remained an internal Red Bull GmbH affair from start to finish.
Legal proceedings beyond the internal investigation
No external cases confirmed
The brief does not establish whether any external legal or regulatory action was taken following the internal investigation. The complainant was suspended after the grievance was dismissed, but her current employment status and whether she received any financial settlement are not part of the known record. No criminal proceedings or civil lawsuits have been publicly confirmed as of June 2025.
A governance case study
The absence of external legal action does not mean the matter is closed. The suspension of a complainant after a dismissed grievance is an unusual step that has attracted scrutiny from employment law specialists and corporate governance observers. Several Formula One teams have updated their internal conduct policies since the episode, and the case is cited in boardroom discussions across the sport as an example of how not to handle a high-profile employee complaint.
Reputational aftermath
For Red Bull Racing, the lack of a legal sequel means the internal resolution stands as the final word. But the reputational damage to the team and to Horner personally has been lasting. The affair is now a permanent part of his public biography, and it will recur in any future succession planning at the team.
Horner's position as team principal as of mid-2025
Survival and support
Christian Horner remains team principal of Red Bull Racing as of June 2025. He has held the role since the team entered Formula One in 2005, making him the longest-serving team principal on the current grid. His survival through the investigation and the subsequent power struggle is a measure of his standing within the Thai majority ownership of Red Bull GmbH, which supported him throughout the controversy.
A shakier foundation
However, the long-term outlook is less certain than his job title suggests. Adrian Newey is gone. Several senior engineers have followed. The team faces a major technical regulation change in 2026, and the Red Bull Powertrains division, the team's new in-house engine programme, has yet to prove itself without Newey's oversight. Horner will be judged on how the team performs in that new era.
Governance permanently altered
The investigation also changed how the team is governed. Red Bull GmbH has tightened its oversight of the Formula One operation. The public feud between the Thai and Austrian shareholder groups has not been fully resolved. Horner's authority inside the team is intact, but the conditions that allowed him to operate with near-total autonomy for nearly two decades have been permanently altered.
Key facts
- Investigation announced: Early February 2024
- Investigator appointed: Independent King's Counsel barrister
- Grievance dismissed: 28 February 2024
- Complainant status: Suspended by Red Bull after dismissal
- Adrian Newey departure: Announced May 2024, joined Aston Martin in 2025
- Horner's position as of mid-2025: Remains team principal
