Member of Red Bull team who accused team principal, Christian Horner, of inappropriate behavior, is said to have filed a complaint against Horner with the FIA and appealed against his suspension from Red Bull, as reported by the BBC.
Recently, it emerged that Red Bull Racing had suspended the employee who made the accusation against Horner. This led to an investigation conducted by an external lawyer, which ultimately dismissed the complaint.
According to the BBC report on Friday, the employee intends to challenge the decision within the five-day appeal deadline, after sending legal letters earlier in the week.
Furthermore, the employee in question intends to file a complaint with the ethics committee of the Formula 1 governing body, the FIA, about Horner’s conduct, as reported by the BBC on Saturday.
The BBC also states that this complaint follows two previous complaints from whistleblowers that were recently lodged with the FIA. Both complaints were related to Horner’s behavior and Red Bull’s subsequent investigation into the matter.
Red Bull has not publicly disclosed the reason why the original complaint was rejected. Additionally, it has not revealed the identity of the lawyer who conducted the investigation or shared their findings with relevant parties such as F1 or the FIA.
No public explanation has been given for the suspension of the complainant as well.
If the complainant did indeed file a complaint with the FIA, it will force the FIA to address the issue in some way, whether through action or inaction.
So far, the only official comment from the FIA was made prior to the verdict, where it stated that it would refrain from providing detailed comments until the investigation is concluded.
During the race in Jeddah last week, Horner expressed his wish that everyone would overcome this situation and focus again on the race.
He consistently denied any misconduct and expressed his disappointment that the disclosure of alleged information against him to key figures in F1 and journalists has received widespread media coverage.
