THE woman at the centre of Christian Horner’s sexting scandal has reportedly agreed to leave Red Bull for £3million.
Insiders claim the eye-watering payout will see her drop all allegations against Horner, 51.
PAThe unnamed woman at the centre of Christian Horner’s sexting scandal has reportedly agreed to leave Red Bull for £3million[/caption]
GettyInsiders claim the payout will see her drop allegations against the former Red Bull chief[/caption]
AFPHorner, 51, was sacked in July[/caption]
As reported by the Daily Mail, the unnamed woman was present in the paddock during the Singapore Grand Prix, but is now working for another team.
Horner, 51, was cleared of misconduct towards a female colleague – allegations he had always denied – by an internal probe on February 28.
However, she was later understood to seek new legal representation and appeal the decision, according to The Times.
On March 7, the woman was suspended on full pay from Red Bull HQ amid claims her “honesty was called into question.”
The reasons allegedly given to her were that she appeared dishonest owing to inconsistencies in the evidence she had provided.
Horner, meanwhile, was sacked as Red Bull team principal in July following a poor result at the British Grand Prix.
He received a mega-money £80million payout to leave the team completely.
But Horner, formerly the longest-serving F1 team chief after spending 20 years with Red Bull, is already plotting a route back into the motorsport for 2026.
SunSport understands taking a lower payout offer – with the maximum he could have taken being £110m – means he is free to return to F1 as early as spring 2026.
That has seen him linked with a number of constructors including Alpine, Aston Martin – where old friend Adrian Newey now works – and Haas.
Talks with the latter of these teams were confirmed ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix by team principal Ayao Komatsu.
Komatsu, who replaced Drive to Survive fan favourite Guenther Steiner as Haas boss in January 2024, said “exploratory” talks had taken place, but that they would not be going any further.
He said: “It’s true that he approached us and one of our guys had an exploratory, let’s say, talk.
“But that was it. Nothing’s going any further. I’ve got nothing more to say on that one.”
Horner’s move back into F1 is likely to see him demand more than simply being a team principal.
It is understood he is keen to be in a position where he has complete control, likely coming in the form of buying shares in a team – whether that is partial or a full takeover.
While Haas lacks the capital of many of their larger F1 rivals, owner Gene Haas has repeatedly shown no interest in selling any part of his shareholding in the team.
Talks were confirmed between Horner and Haas yesterday, but they would not be going any further.
But Horner has now suffered another major blow to his return plans after three more teams denied he would join them.
Speaking at the Singapore Grand Prix, Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell was the first to address the rumours.
He said: “Had a chat with Lawrence [Stroll], it looks as though Christian is ringing up every team owner at the moment.
“I can clearly say there are no plans for the involvement of Christian either in operational or investment role in the future.”
Alpine’s Steven Nielsen confirmed Horner had been in talks with controversial team figurehead, Flavio Briatore, but had had no indication of Horner joining the French constructor.
He said: “As far as I know, no. He and Flavio are old friends, what they’ve talked about I don’t know.
“No truth in Christian coming to Alpine but doesn’t mean it won’t happen, this is F1 after all.
Briatore – a long-term friend of Horner – is seen as someone who could back a Horner bid into Alpine, whose parent company are Renault.
James Vowles, fresh off the back of celebrating a first podium as Williams team principal in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, did not shut the door on a potential approach from Horner, but said the team was happy the way it was at the moment.
He said: “Should always welcome a conversation, there’s no point closing the door.
“I think we are very happy with the structure we have and it’s working so I don’t see any reason to make any changes to that.”
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the surprise pace setter in FP1, a full tenth of a second faster than Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
This weekend’s race was issued with a first ever “heat hazard” warning from the FIA, with temperatures set to climb as high as 31C.
InstagramGeri Halliwell has stood beside her husband throughout the scandal[/caption]
PAHorner has now suffered another major blow to his return plans after three more teams denied he would join them[/caption]
InstagramHorner’s move back into F1 is likely to see him demand more than simply being a team principal[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
