F1 News: Toto Wolff Urges Red Bull For "More Transparency" On Christian Horner Investigation
Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has called for more clarity regarding the investigation into Red Bull's Christian Horner. Horner was exonerated from allegations of misconduct towards a female colleague, claims he refuted.
Key Takeaways:
- Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has criticised the lack of detail in Red Bull's announcement about Christian Horner's investigation.
- Horner was cleared of accusations related to inappropriate behaviour towards a female staff member, which he had denied.
- Wolff advocates for increased transparency in such serious matters within the sport, expressing concern over the potential impact of vagueness and opacity on Formula 1's image.
Mercedes team leader Toto Wolff has voiced concerns over the transparency of the investigation process involving Red Bull team chief Christian Horner. Following an inquiry into allegations of improper and controlling conduct towards a female colleague - allegations Horner has denied - he was recently absolved. Wolff has openly expressed dissatisfaction with Red Bull's public statement on the matter, labelling it as "basic" and "vague". He commented during the Team Press Conference ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix:
"Well I just read the statement, which was pretty basic, I would say.
"My personal opinion is we can’t really look behind the curtain. At the end of the day, there is a lady in an organisation that has spoken to HR and said there was an issue, and it was investigated and yesterday, the sport has received the message that it’s all fine, we’ve looked at it.
“I believe with the aspiration as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency, and I wonder what the sport’s position is. We’re competitors, we’re a team and we can have our own personal opinions or not.
“But it’s more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to assess, what is right in that situation and what is wrong.”
The call for more information from Red Bull's parent company GmbH was met with a philosophical response from Wolff, who mused on the ethical considerations and the sport's responsibility to address and clarify such matters comprehensively. He concluded:
“Are we talking with the right moral approach, with the values based on the speculations that are out there?
“I simply think as a sport, we cannot afford to leave things in the vague and in the opaque on critical topics like this, because this is going to catch us out, eventually.
“We’re in a super transparent world, eventually things are going to happen, and I think we have the duty, the organisation has the duty to say well we’ve looked at it, and it’s OK, and then we can move on.
"It’s sometimes very short-sighted to try to suppress it. Not saying this has happened. We’re standing from the outside and looking at it. But just as a looking at statements or press releases or the timelines, it just seems that it’s a bit not as modern as things go in this world, in the real world out there.
“But maybe in Formula 1, we’re just our little bubble and we think that’s OK.”