Christian Horner Claims There Are No Issues With Red Bull Amidst Recent Allegations

Red Bull Team Principal and CEO, Christian Horner, has rebuffed the idea of his team being at odds due to the allegations which have been placed on him.

Horner is currently under investigation by Red Bull after he was accused by a female colleague of behaving inappropriately towards her.

Since the allegations came to light at the beginning of the month, Horner has denied any wrongdoing and attended a hearing with an external barrister last week to make his case and answer questions on the matter.

There was no conclusion from the hearing and a resolution on the matter may still take weeks, therefore creeping into the start of the upcoming Formula 1 season.

On Thursday, Horner and Red Bull made their first public outing since the allegations were made, as the team gathered at its base in Milton Keynes to unveil the new RB20 team car for the 2024 season. The event went ahead even though many thought it would be cancelled due to the controversy surrounding Horner.

Despite the allegations, the 50-year-old has carried on with his regular duties at Red Bull and plans to be at the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain in two weeks' time.

When questioned by Sky Sports News at the car launch whether he thought about temporality relieving himself from his work due to the current situation, he said: "No. It's business as usual. I fully deny any accusations that have been made against me but of course, I'll work with that process, which I hope is concluded in the near future."

Horner also mentioned that his relationship with the team's lead driver, Max Verstappen, is not strained, stating: "Max is very focused on his job. He's been very supportive and I'm looking forward to the season ahead with him."

The Red Bull Team Principal also stressed that there is still unity between him and the team's hierarchy, proclaiming: "We're together as one team, that's the way we've always been and that's the way we continue to be."

Verstappen reiterated Horner's claims when asked about the current status of their relationship. The three-time world champion commented: "It is very good. We have achieved a lot of things together so that doesn't change suddenly."

The allegations made against Horner have cast a large shadow over Red Bull's preparations for the new season and will most likely continue to do so until there is a concrete conclusion over the whole matter.

Red Bull are coming off the back of three successful seasons, which have included Verstappen winning the drivers' title in each of those years and the team winning the constructors' title in the past two.

Last season was a full-on dominant display by Red Bull as the team won 21 out of 22 races, resulting in a record 95.45 per cent win rate for the campaign. They also racked up a record 860 points in the constructors' standings.

Verstappen is deemed the massive favourite for the 2024 championship after winning 19 races and securing 21 podium finishes last season. The Dutchman's teammate, Sergio Perez, also had some success in 2023 as he won two races and was on the podium on nine occasions.

However, both of Perez' wins came in the opening four races of 2023 and he only had six podium finishes after that, so he will be aiming for more consistent displays in 2024 even though Verstappen will remain a bigger priority for Red Bull.

Perez' contract with Red Bull is up after the upcoming season so he will be motivated to take a substantial leap in 2024. His performances will need to either convince Red Bull to hand him a new deal or alert other teams that have an open driver slot for 2025 to sign him on.

Red Bull will be hoping that the RB20 can sustain the impressive performance levels that the RB19 and RB18 were able to reach in the past two seasons and even result in greater dominance.

The team will be particularly keen on a better display at the Singapore Grand Prix as it is the one race they did not win last season, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz triumphing and Verstappen and Perez finishing fifth and eighth, respectively.

Horner was full of praise for the team's new car at Thursday's launch, saying: "I think the team have done a wonderful job on RB20, they haven't sat on their laurels and you can see that they've pushed the boundaries with the car."

Red Bull's rivals also launched their new team cars for the 2024 season this week, as Ferrari unveiled the SF-24, Mercedes showed off the W15 and McLaren revealed the MCL38.