Editor’s be aware, July 9, 2025, 10:45 am ET: On July 9, Pink Bull’s System 1 group principal Christian Horner was fired. His elimination adopted a tricky 12 months for the group, one which noticed dwindling efficiency, excessive turnover of vital engineers, employees and drivers, and rumors concerning the potential exit of four-time world champ Max Verstappen. As of 10:30 am, a cause hasn’t been made public, however beneath you’ll discover an explainer — initially revealed on March 8, 2024 — behind final 12 months’s allegations of sexual harassment, a scandal that will have contributed to the downfall of the once-dominant group.
The road between spectacle and sport has at all times been blurry. However with regards to System 1 — the worldwide motorsport with a few of the quickest vehicles and deepest pockets — the largest institutional gamers appear to overlook that there’s a distinction between scrumptious drama and legit controversy.
It’s simple to mistake the 2 when a lot of the elite sport’s success will be attributed to Drive to Survive, the addictive Netflix present that explains the intimidating technicalities and stakes of F1 by way of the catty interpersonal drama between teammates and rivals alike. My colleague Byrd Pinkerton described the present in 2021 this fashion: “Principally, think about the Actual Housewives, if the housewives have been driving round at 300 kilometers an hour, and if often one of many housewives caught on hearth.”
Previous to reporting this story, I attended a number of races in the previous few years, bonded with an more and more numerous fan neighborhood, and spoke with pit crew personnel on the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Right here’s what it is advisable to know:
Have questions? E mail me: izzie.ramirez@voxmedia.com.
In consequence, F1 has skilled years of explosive progress, particularly within the US. Extra eyes has meant extra races: You might need heard Las Vegas residents griping concerning the building inconveniences and inaccessibility of final November’s brand-new avenue race. Or how Elon Musk, Shakira, and Vin Diesel rolled out to the Miami Grand Prix. There’s additionally the sheer stardom of the drivers: thirst traps of Lewis Hamilton going viral, Daniel Ricciardo gracing the cowl of GQ, and limitless model offers for practically everybody on the grid. (That’s the place the 20 drivers begin the race!)
Proper now, although, an argument would possibly change how individuals see the ordinarily glitzy sport — particularly the rising feminine fanbase F1 is all too blissful to court docket through social media. In 2022, roughly 40 p.c of followers have been feminine, up 8 p.c from 5 years in the past, in line with Stefano Domenicali, CEO of the System 1 Group.
In early February, vitality drink firm and group proprietor Pink Bull launched an unbiased investigation into its System 1 group principal, Christian Horner, for potential misconduct towards a group member. Pink Bull didn’t specify the main points of the character of the alleged misconduct nor who it was towards, resulting in rumors. Horner, who manages group technique and personnel, was cleared just a few days forward of the beginning of the season.
A day after Pink Bull dismissed the investigation, a Google Drive folder was anonymously despatched to greater than 100 reporters, different group principals, and members of the Fédération Internationale de l’Vehicle (FIA), the governing physique for the game. The folder incorporates practically 80 totally different information, most of that are screenshots of WhatsApp messages between what’s allegedly Horner and a feminine worker.
Vox is at present within the strategy of verifying the pictures and movies. What we are able to say is that the undated messages embody references to intimate acts, requests to delete messages, and what seems to be a nude image. These WhatsApp messages share house with seemingly skilled communication, together with about whether or not this particular person might make money working from home.
Pink Bull Racing, its father or mother firm Pink Bull GmbH, and Christian Horner didn’t reply to Vox’s requests for remark concerning the validity of the messages, the character of the investigation, something concerning doubtlessly firing Horner, or whether or not they have opened any new investigations by time of publication.
Whereas controversy isn’t new to F1 — simply have a look at the dishonest scandals, race interference, or the driving force who misplaced his seat as a result of his Russian oligarch father was sanctioned initially of the battle in Ukraine — the noise surrounding Horner ought to be greater than fodder for a juicy season of Drive to Survive. It ought to immediate questions round find out how to finest assist the ladies pit crew members, engineers, assistants, and all different employees in a predominantly male sport. If F1 can’t defend its personal feminine workers within the sport, then the efforts to create a pipeline for feminine drivers in addition to make races safer for the current inflow of feminine followers will fall flat.
Presently, a lot of the protection of the controversy is concentrated on whether or not Pink Bull will be capable to keep its huge lead within the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, or hypothesis concerning the different particular person’s identification and motivations within the texts, as if that is gossip fodder about actuality stars and never a office concern. As of Thursday morning, Pink Bull had reportedly suspended a lady who accused Horner of inappropriate habits. It’s not clear if she is similar particular person within the texts. And on Friday afternoon, it was reported that Pink Bull adviser Helmut Marko might face suspension.
The way in which every thing is shaking out feels extra like gossip, somewhat than a intestine examine to see if the game’s establishments are able to questioning breaches of energy. From the FIA to the person groups and their house owners, the game has confirmed time and time once more that they disguise behind claims that every thing ought to “simply be concerning the racing,” somewhat than having to concern themselves with the individuals who make it potential. How System 1 decides to maneuver from right here will decide if their efforts to assist girls workers and its followers have any benefit.
The investigation and allegations towards Christian Horner, defined
Most System 1 followers would say the game is fairly boring for the time being: Pink Bull driver Max Verstappen, predictably, will take first place in most races. He’s in a league of his personal. The engineers and management at Pink Bull Racing assure that.
While you’re consistently crushing the competitors, others attempt to discover methods to take you down. There are a number of situations documented in Drive to Survive of petty stories to the FIA. So when Pink Bull introduced on February 5 that it could be wanting into “sure allegations” made towards group principal Christian Horner, it was laborious to pin down whether or not this was an exterior try to get him fired for competitors’s sake or if there was veracity to the claims of misconduct. Pink Bull’s deliberately obscure assertion to the media ushered in rumors about “aggressive administration.” Of what variety? The corporate by no means explicitly mentioned. And it nonetheless received’t.
“One of many largest quotes from Drive to Survive is [motorsport commentator] Will Buxton at all times saying ‘In F1, when there’s smoke, there’s often hearth,’” mentioned Kate Byrne, one of many founders of the fan neighborhood Two Ladies 1 System. She explains that such inside issues not often bubble as much as the general public, however she feels Pink Bull weighing in was a pink flag, saying it’s potential they needed to “get in entrance of it by saying one thing. Pink Bull won’t ever try this on their very own.”
Pink Bull’s exterior lawyer, who they refuse to publicly title, cleared Horner of any wrongdoing on February 28 — simply forward of the primary Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain. “Pink Bull is assured that the investigation has been honest, rigorous, and neutral,” Pink Bull’s father or mother firm mentioned in one other assertion. “The investigation report is confidential and incorporates the personal info of the events and third events who assisted within the investigation, and subsequently we won’t be commenting additional out of respect for all involved.”
Moreover, in line with some stories, Pink Bull was making ready to fireside Horner as early as February 2 — three days earlier than the investigation announcement — however he had allegedly insisted on arbitration. Horner has not made any statements concerning doubtlessly being fired, and through this week’s press convention, he declined to provide any extra specifics.
“My spouse has been phenomenally supportive, as has my household, however the intrusion on my household is now sufficient,” Horner mentioned throughout a press convention Thursday in Saudi Arabia. “It’s time now to concentrate on why we’re right here, which is to go System 1 racing.”
Who will get to manage the narrative?
Horner’s profession will seemingly be unaffected, given the portrayal of this investigation as merely a scandal somewhat than a possible office misconduct subject. F1 and Pink Bull are actually making certain that Horner is ready to do “enterprise as regular.” So naturally, all eyes have been on Pink Bull’s two drivers, Max Verstappen and Checo Perez, to scope out their efficiency final weekend. There have been issues, some raised by Max’s father Jos, who’s a former racer, that issues at Pink Bull would possibly “explode” if nothing is finished. If it’s true that tensions have been rising throughout the group, it could be evident within the first race, no?
As if. Verstappen led the race by a large margin of about 20 seconds between him and his teammate. Merely put, he was coasting, taking his monster of a automobile for a pleasure journey, whereas no rivals even got here shut. It was like watching Simone Biles on a playground. After Verstappen snagged first place, Horner was proper in entrance of the rostrum along with his spouse, former Spice Woman Gerri Halliwell, and the inheritor of the Pink Bull fortune, Chalerm Yoovidhya. “Higher to do your speaking on the observe,” Horner mentioned after the race.
Deal with the continued dominance of the Pink Bull group misses the purpose, nonetheless. Verstappen will proceed to carry out simply high-quality no matter tensions, however there are lots of of ladies who work for F1 groups who, due to F1’s common mishandling of this entire scenario, are being tacitly informed that their experiences and security throughout the sport don’t matter. In the event that they converse up, they might be ridiculed — all due to the obsessive concentrate on successful races and scores.
And but, the FIA and Pink Bull have made no statements or guarantees about how they’re going to assist girls (and nonbinary and trans) employees in mild of the dialog round Horner. Even the whispers of such habits ought to launch wider investigations throughout groups, arrange a stronger whistleblower coverage, and add extra concrete penalties for senior management who do find yourself embarking on romantic relationships with workers with out clearing it with the suitable our bodies. The FIA has not responded to a request for touch upon whether or not they have began an investigation into Horner and Pink Bull by the point of this publication.
However given how every F1 group has its personal CEO and operates in a number of totally different nations, inside protocols and processes fluctuate, in line with Nicole Sievers, co-founder of Two Ladies 1 System.
“In a sport that’s so closely male dominated, there are additionally seemingly pressures on girls which can be working for these groups,” Sievers mentioned. “That’s a extremely powerful place to be in, particularly once you do see sort of the overwhelming majority of the ruling class of F1. We’ve seen that play out traditionally. Cash simply breeds energy, which breeds a lack of a sense of consequence.”
On prime of that, a lot of the make-up of the present media pool skews a sure method: older, male, white. This previous guard has been overlaying F1 for a really very long time. Protection round sexism, racism, and different sorts of discrimination is probably not prime of thoughts.
Strict guidelines on F1 protection don’t assist. Usually in American sports activities, getting press accreditation is pretty routine, however with F1, there are very strict guidelines for who’s eligible and what you’ll be able to produce, from prohibiting transferring photographs to not offering credentials to web sites that don’t meet sure site visitors figures on their F1 protection, with comparatively small-scale offenses leading to prolonged bans.
When there’s such a decent leash on reporters, asking laborious questions with a watch for accountability turns into troublesome. As Lily Herman, writer of the F1 tradition publication Engine Failure, explains, “There are all these fears that exist in F1 round, ‘Hey, if I converse up, I’m going to get my media entry revoked or my whole media group will if I do one thing fallacious.’”
An ideal case examine of this dynamic will be seen with Highway & Observe’s editor-in-chief Daniel Pund taking down a vital piece by Kate Wagner analyzing the opulence of System 1 as a result of he felt it was the “fallacious story” for the publication. The story itself was entertaining, however not essentially news-breaking, and the elimination raised questions about whether or not the FIA reached out (in line with Pund, they haven’t).
What does this imply for girls in motorsport
How this story in the end unfolds will reveal if F1 understands its altering fanbase and what it takes to make its workers really feel supported, and whether or not it might get with the occasions.
“As somebody who loves the game, it’s undoubtedly disappointing to see what’s occurring proper now,” mentioned Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion, throughout media day for this weekend’s race in Saudi Arabia. “It doesn’t look good to the surface world. It doesn’t look good from the within both. It’s a extremely pivotal second for the game, when it comes to what we undertaking to the world and the way it’s dealt with.”
By sweeping such allegations below the rug, Pink Bull might hope the varied dramas of the game will trigger the information to die out. That’s fallacious. If something, F1’s rising feminine fanbase is hungry for accountability.
“We have to firmly stake our chair to the bottom on the desk and say: ‘We’re not leaving and we’re going to power you to be higher,’” Byrne mentioned. To her, what workers face mirrors the experiences of followers. You’ll be able to’t enhance one with out the opposite, and turning off the game received’t assist, she added. “The one method you are able to do that’s not by stopping, however by persevering with to go on and being louder about it.”
And we’ve seen followers demand equal pay for feminine employees, security protections for all followers no matter gender identification at races, and rising alternatives for feminine drivers by way of F1 Academy. The game, in fact, made guarantees that it’ll do higher in these avenues. Discuss is simply speak although, if there aren’t actions to again it up when the stakes have by no means been greater. (F1 Academy, as an example, was criticized for not being broadcasted throughout its debut in 2023.)
“I at all times query very brazenly what precisely the purpose of all of that is,” Herman mentioned, “It’s nice that ladies are getting alternatives like F1 Academy. However we must always at all times sort of query what precisely these alternatives are, what they do, and who they don’t prolong to. What’s simply sort of lip service being paid within the second of disaster?”
On the finish of the day, we’re speaking about individuals’s lives, not just a few actuality TV present. When successful is prioritized over well-being, all of us lose.
Replace, July 9, 2025: This story, initially revealed March 8, 2024, has been up to date on the prime with information of Horner’s firing from the Pink Bull group.
