Christian Horner denies allegation of inappropriate behaviour, Red Bull investigate

F1 team principal Christian Horner has denied an allegation of inappropriate behaviour, but Red Bull have launched an internal investigation.

A Red Bull spokesperson confirmed to Crash.net that Horner denied the allegation.

The story was first reported by F1-Insider, who say “serious accusations” by an employee have been made against Horner.

The Times report that an accusation of "inappropriate, controlling behaviour" came from a female member of staff. The complaint went to Red Bull Austria, the F1 team's parent company.

This news was "a shock to staff", the British newspaper reports. They were not aware of the investigation because the employee who made the complaint chose to take it outside of the F1 team, due to Horner's status as the team principal.

The complaint was made at the Hahnenkamm ski race in Kitzbühel, an event attended by fellow F1 bosses Toto Wolff and Zak Brown, according to the German publication F1-Insider.

A Red Bull statement issued to F1-Insider said: "After being made aware of certain recent allegations, the company launched an independent investigation.

“This process, which is already underway, is being carried out by an external specialist barrister. The company takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practically possible.

“It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Red Bull are set to launch their 2024 F1 challenger next week on February 15, a week before pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain.

The season-opening race - the Bahrain Grand Prix - takes place on March 2.