Susie Wolff has shared her genuine feelings about former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, expressing her gratitude for the 51-year-old’s support of the F1 Academy series. However, she described the Brit as having ‘played a character very well’ during his time in the paddock.
Her husband, Toto Wolff, shared a long-standing and tense rivalry with Horner as Mercedes and Red Bull battled for World Championships during the turbo-hybrid era and into the ground-effect regulations.
However, Horner was dismissed by Red Bull after the British Grand Prix earlier this season, ending a 20-year association with the organisation and halting one of F1’s greatest modern rivalries – and it’s most captivating outside of the race track.
Looking back at her experience sharing the paddock with Horner, F1 Academy director Wolff told The Sunday Times: “Christian was supportive of F1 Academy, and for that I’ll always be grateful. It was a real shame for the sport – the whole drama that was created with the allegations.
“We were getting so much positive momentum with F1 Academy, and that all kicked off and suddenly everyone wanted to interview me about that. He was someone that played a character very well. But I do think that incident maybe wasn’t the best for the image of the sport and showed that we’ve still got work to do.”
The allegations of sexual harassment and coercive behaviour levelled against Horner by an unnamed female employee were consistently denied by the former team principal, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal investigation, and a follow-up investigation launched following an appeal by the employee and held by two KCs.
Horner is now seeking a route back into the Formula One paddock after receiving an £80million settlement package following his Red Bull sacking. According to a report from the Daily Mail, the Brit has already held talks with Ferrari, where he could replace Fred Vasseur at the helm.
He has also been linked with Haas, Cadillac, and Aston Martin, although these organisations have since distanced themselves from Horner. Discussing the speculation at the Singapore Grand Prix, Andy Cowell shut down links with the latter of that trio.
“It looks as though Christian is ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment,” Cowell declared. “I can clearly say there are no plans for the involvement of Christian in an operational or investment role in the future.”