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The Red Bull staff member who made allegations against Christian Horner is set to face questions on alleged dishonesty this week. Image: Moy / XPB Images
The female employee has been suspended from Red Bull Racing following the conclusion of the initial investigation which exonerated Horner of any wrongdoing.
An independent investigation into the matter was concluded in February 28 with the employee at the centre of the allegations suspended for alleged dishonesty in her statements and evidence presented at the time.
While Horner was cleared, it has not been an end to the matter with a messy power struggle breaking out within the Red Bull ranks.
That has seemingly pitched Horner against Max Verstappen, his father Jos, and Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, Dr Helmut Marko.
Even that appears to have settled with a (public) ceasefire between the factions.
Nonetheless, Horner has rarely been far from the headlines with the BBC claiming the female employee is “up set, scared, and lonely.”
While comment from that individual or Horner on the matter is protected under non-disclosure agreements, the BBC has published claims from an anonymous friend of the staffer.
“”It’s impossible for people to understand what it’s like for her,” they reportedly said.
“She can’t talk and she won’t talk.
“But I can tell you what it is doing to her. Every time I have asked her something, she breaks down in tears and says she’s got no-one to talk to because she’s not allowed to talk.
“She is very upset, very angry, very scared, very intimidated, very lonely. And I think it’s impossible for people to understand without being in her shoes what it’s like for her.
“She struggles to understand how, given the information, an independent process can have come to the conclusions it has, and the actions that have followed,” the friend added.
“It’s shocking but not surprising how upset she is. There have been multiple financial offers [to sell her story], none of which she has had any interest in even engaging on.
“The fact she can’t talk to her friends, is only allowed to talk to her direct family members… you have a single female who has followed the right process and feels like she is unheard and it has been a totally unjust process.
“It takes a pretty brave woman to do what she has done. And unfortunately it is a very poor state of affairs.”
Developments out of the employee’s camp coincide with the timing of interviews relating to allegations of dishonesty during the initial investigation.
The staff member remains suspended on full pay as the process continues.
Horner, meanwhile, is in Japan this week for the fourth round of the season, the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
