- Crimson Bull started the protection of their two world championship titles this weekend on the Bahrain GP
- Christian Horner was cleared of “coercive conduct in direction of a feminine worker”
- The texts and images purportedly despatched by the Crimson Bull director, nevertheless, had been leaked on Thursday
Sky Sports activities' protection of the Bahrain Grand Prix moved rapidly away from the controversy surrounding Crimson Bull boss Christian Horner after admitting the game was at “back and front”.
Horner is going through renewed stress after apparently intimate WhatsApp conversations with a feminine colleague had been despatched to Components 1's most influential figures on Thursday.
The bombshell e mail contained 79 paperwork, together with tons of of messages, a lot of which had been sexual in nature.
The nameless sender copied main figures within the sport, comparable to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief government Stefano Domenicali, in addition to accredited media gathered in Bahrain for the scandal-plagued season opener.
Round 24 hours earlier, Horner had been cleared of “stress behaviour” by his group's dad or mum firm, Crimson Bull GmbH, in Salzburg. An inner investigation led by the KC adopted, gathering 150 pages of findings.
On Thursday, throughout protection of observe for the primary Grand Prix of the brand new season in Bahrain, Sky Sports activities determined to focus the dialogue on the “sporting aspect” of the state of affairs.
That steadfast mantra continued as protection started on Friday, even because the broadcaster acknowledged the difficulty shadowing the Gulf state's lifting curtain.
Sky Sports activities F1 lead presenter Simon Lazenby admitted in his introduction that “the longest season in Components 1 historical past begins with sport at the back and front”.
On Thursday, bosses from Horner's rival groups referred to as on the FIA and Components 1 to assessment Crimson Bull's choice.
“I simply learn the assertion (relating to Wednesday's choice, following a course of described by Crimson Bull GmbH as 'honest, strict and neutral'), it was fairly easy,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff mentioned. “My private opinion is that we actually can't look behind the scenes. There’s a woman within the group who spoke to HR and mentioned there was an issue. It was investigated and yesterday the game obtained phrase that all the pieces was nice, we appeared into it.
“I consider that given the aspiration of worldwide sport on such important points, it wants extra transparency and I’m wondering what’s the place of the game?”
