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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has blasted the lack of transparency and termed Red Bull's statement on Christian Horner's internal investigation 'pretty basic'.
The F1 world was shaken by reports of Horner being investigated for inappropriate behavior. Even the Austrian team had issued a statement confirming that the team principal was being investigated.
All the allegations against Red Bull team principal Christian Horner were dropped as the grievance was dismissed. As a result, Horner is back doing his job and leading his team's 2024 F1 campaign. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, however, was not impressed.
Talking to the media, when questioned about the Christian Horner investigation and Red Bull's statement, the Mercedes boss didn't hold back. Talking about how the sport needed more transparency, he told the media:
"I just read the statement which was pretty basic, and my personal opinion is that we can't 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. Yesterday, the sport received the message that it was 'all fine, we have looked at it' and I believe that as a global sport on such critical topics, it needs more transparecy."
He added:
"I wonder what the sport's position is, we are competitors, we are a team and can have our own opinions, but it is more like a general reaction that we as a sport need to address what is right in that situation."
"We cannot afford to leave things in the vague" - Mercedes boss on Red Bull's statement on Christian Horner
Further expanding on what he'd said, Toto Wolff explained that things like this cannot be left vague and that there needs to be a more transparent approach to it.
The Mercedes boss clarified that he was not insinuating that there was any wrongdoing from Red Bull or Christian Horner, but felt that there needed to be a better approach to all of this. He said:
"Again as I said, we are being asked questions here as competitors, are we talking as competitors and with the right values, morales based on the speculation. As a sport, we cannot, we cannot afford to leave things in the vague, the opaque on critical topics like this because it is going to catch us out."
He added:
"Because eventually we are in a super transparent world, and eventually things are going to happen, and I think the organisation (Red Bull GmbH) have looked it at and it is 'Okay and we can move on' and not try to supress it. I am not saying this has happened, but we are standing from the outside looking in at statements, press releases and it seems it is not as modern as things are in the real world, but maybe we are in a bubble in Formula 1 and think that is okay."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff have always struggled to see eye to eye on most occasions. Horner, however, would be looking to move on from the whole situation and get back to racing.
