Hi friends
I was so close to making this another FIA edition, but I think we need a little reprieve.
Top Story of the Week: The Christian Horner Sexual Misconduct Case Will Be Put Before the UK Employment Tribunal
Okay, before we talk about Horner, I just quickly want to brush another piece of news, namely that Motorsport UK Chairman David Richards sent a message to his members, about the recent FIA controversies.
The message both threatens legal action against the FIA and Mohammed Ben Sulayem if they do not address the governance issues, and it makes reference to the upcoming Presidential Election, hinting that Richards could mount a challenge to Ben Sulayem, should he continue his current ways.
I’ve covered the FIA and Mohammed Ben Sulayem plenty over the last few weeks, so I’ll not repeat myself, and simply say this is an interesting development that I will definitely be keeping an eye on.
Instead, let’s talk about Christian Horner.
The Red Bull Team Principal has been embroiled in a case about sexual misconduct for over a year, after it was revealed that a former Red Bull employee had filed a complaint, citing inappropriate and controlling behaviour by Horner.
The case culminated on the eve of the 2024 season with the leak of WhatsApp messages between Horner and the employee. Horner was subsequently cleared in an internal investigation by Red Bull, and by independent solicitors.
Dutch journalist Erik van Haren now reports that the case isn’t over just yet, as it will be brought before the UK Employment Tribunal early next year. The Employment Tribunals are the courts responsible for handling employment and labour disputes, such as unfair dismissal and wage disputes.
Employment Tribunals are not criminal courts, and in the vast majority of cases won by claimants, the outcome is financial compensation. It’s likely that Red Bull and Horner will push for an out-of-court settlement before the hearings, to avoid putting the case on public display.
The case is currently under a Restrictive Reporting Order, which prevents the UK media from reporting on the details of it, which is common in cases involving sexual misconduct until a decision has been rendered.
The case kicked off an internal power struggle in Red Bull – one that Horner would also appear to have won, defeating calls for his termination. The Employment Tribunal decision could very well be the final chapter in the story, as there have been no official criminal complaints lodged with UK authorities over Horner’s alleged misconduct, and a civil court is unlikely to hear a case already decided by an Employment Tribunal.
The Rest of the Stories This Week:
- Motorsport UK Chairman David Richards sent a message to members about the recent FIA controversies
- Ferrari has won a court case that will delay Enrico Cardile’s start at Aston Martin until July
- Niels Wittich was never given a reason why he was sacked from his position as Race Director
- The Las Vegas GP generated an economic impact of $934 million – down almost $500 million from 2024
- Max Verstappen launched his GT3 team with Aston Martin
- Yuki Tsunoda has a new manager for 2025
- F1 is introducing harsher flexi-wing tests in Australia
- F1 plans to start 2026 testing in January in Barcelona
- The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list was revealed
- We got a sneak peek at Drive to Survive season 7
- Abbi Pulling has left the Alpine Academy
- Katherine Legge will be the first woman to drive in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2018
- The NASCAR twitter account was hacked
- ABB extend their title partnership with Formula E
- F2 driver Christian Mansell is “stepping away from racing for a little while”
- Autosport is changing direction
That’s it for this week, thank you for being here.
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