The Formula One world has been rocked by an alleged sexting scandal including Red Bull’s big boss, Christian Horner, and a female employee. Since the texts have surfaced, there have been calls for Horner to resign, as well as threats of legal action.
Screenshots of what purports to be an inappropriate conversation allegedly between Horner, who is principal of Red Bull’s Formula One racing team, and the female employee have been leaked via an anonymous email and reportedly shared amongst some big dogs in the F1.
Following the leak, the father of Formula One Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen has called for Horner to step down from his role. Horner, however, has threatened legal action against a publication, denied the allegations and has been cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal review. His wife, Geri Halliwell, famously known as Ginger Spice, has stood by him.
There’s a lot to unpack, so read our explainer on the alleged affair below.
Here’s everything we know so far about Formula One’s Christian Horner Sexting Scandal
Christian Horner’s alleged text messages are leaked
Per The Guardian, the Formula One season kicked off on a sour note after an anonymous email was shared to “media, team members and senior personnel” within the F1 that contained screenshots of what purported to be an inappropriate convo allegedly between Horner and a female employee.
The email was reportedly sent from two different email addresses and contained a link to a Google Drive containing 79 screenshots of the alleged conversation. Per the publication, the email’s subject line read: “Christian Horner investigation evidence”.
The text messages surfaced after Horner was cleared of allegations of “inappropirate behaviour” towards a female employee.
In the text messages, obtained by Page Six, Horner allegedly asked the employee about her outfit choices and her flexibility, as well as requested selfies. It’s alleged Horner also asked the employee to “delete this chat please”.
Horner immediately denied all allegations made against him.
Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen’s father, speaks out against Horner
Following the sexting scandal, Jos Verstappen called for Horner to step down from his post, telling the Daily Mail that there will be “tension” within the team if he remains in his position.
“The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode,” he claimed to the publication.
In response to Verstappen’s statements, Red Bull released a statement saying the team was “united” and “focused on racing”.
Geri Halliwell reportedly makes demands following the alleged sexting scandal
According to claims published in UK publication, The Sun, the former Spice Girl made a number of demands following the leak of the texts.
“One is that Christian cuts or reduces contact with the woman — but that is difficult because of her role at Red Bull,” an inside source told the publication.
“And she has definitely had her say over what messages he sends. For obvious reasons, Geri would like the female colleague — who she knew before her appointment — to be out of the picture as much as possible.
“But they cannot sack her as there are no grounds to do so.”
Christian Horner reportedly threatens legal action against an F1 magazine
In the wake of Horner’s alleged sexting scandal, an online Formula One magazine reportedly named the employee who received the messages.
According to The Telegraph, the article generated so much traffic that the website crashed as punters attempted to access the report.
The publication said Horner’s lawyers Harbottle & Lewis sent two legal letters to the Formula One magazine for “publishing an unlawful article that was defamatory but also [breached] privacy and data protection rights”.
Tom Rubython — the editor of the Formula One magazine — confirmed he’d received legal warnings and requests to take down the article, but insisted that they “seek an injunction” if they want for him to take it down.
A spokesperson for Red Bull said the article is “littered with inaccuracies and is subject to legal complaint”.
Image Source: Getty Images / TPN
