Toto Wolff makes demand about Christian Horner investigation as Mercedes boss concerned

Toto Wolff has offered his thoughts on the ongoing investigation into Red Bull team principal Christian Horner

Toto Wolff has stated a need for ‘transparency and rigour’ from the independent investigation into Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. The 50-year-old is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour from an unnamed colleague.

He was questioned by the barrister at a secret location two weeks ago, with no news yet on the investigation’s progress. For now, Horner is continuing his duties as normal and has attended pre-season testing in Bahrain this week.

Mercedes boss Wolff is also attending testing and has spoken for the first time on the allegations facing Horner. The Austrian has called for a rigorous investigation into Horner.

“I think it’s clear Formula 1, and that the teams too, we stand for inclusion, equality, fairness, diversity. And it’s not only about talking about it but living it day in and day out. I think this is the standard that we set ourselves,” Wolff said.

“We are a global sport, one of the most important sports platforms in the world, and we are role models. Having said that, there is a lot of speculation that’s been happening over the last weeks. Speculation that we have all heard of and lots of things that are going on.

“I think what’s important in that stage is to process with rigour. I think for Red Bull it started as an independent investigation, if this is done in the right way with transparency and with the rigour, I think that’s something that we need to look at whatever the outcomes are.

“What it means for Formula 1 and how we can learn from that, because we want to talk about racing cars and we want to talk about this a lot, rather than these kinds of very, very critical topics that are more just the team’s issue.

“So it’s a phenomenon, or it’s an issue, for all Formula 1 and in general, for every individual that works here.”

After the accusations were made public, Red Bull’s parent company emphasized that they are treating the situation with great seriousness. They have also committed to responding accordingly once the investigation findings are complete. The company initiated an independent investigation in response to recent accusations.

The investigation is currently being conducted by an external specialist barrister, as stated in a company announcement.

The company considers these issues very important, and the investigation will be finished as soon as possible. Further comments will not be made at this moment.

This week, the testing will occur on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

The beginning of March will see the commencement of the season with the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will be followed by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix a week later.