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Formula 1

Horner complainant reportedly files grievance to FIA

2 min read

The Red Bull staff member who accused team boss Christian Horner of misconduct has reportedly lodged a complaint against Horner to the FIA and appealed her Red Bull suspension, according to the BBC.

Last week it emerged that Red Bull Racing had suspended the female member of staff who made the complaint against Horner - which resulted in an investigation led by an external barrister, who dismissed it.

On Friday the BBC reported that the employee would appeal the decision, a request made within the five-day appeal request period following the issuing of legal letters at the start of the week.

And on Saturday the BBC reported that the employee in question would be lodging a complaint to the ethics committee of the F1 governing body, the FIA, regarding Horner's behaviour.

The BBC also claims her complaint follows "two previous whistleblower complaints registered with the FIA in the past few weeks", both relating to Horner's behaviour and Red Bull's investigation into it.

Red Bull has not given a public reason as to why the original grievance was dismissed. It has not divulged the identity of the barrister behind the investigation nor, so far, shared its findings with key parties like F1 or the FIA.

No public reason was given for the complainant's suspension either.

Prior to the dismissal of the grievance, the FIA said it would "reserve detailed comments until the investigation concludes".

In the wake of the BBC's report that the complainant had lodged a complaint to the FIA, the FIA released the following statement: "At the FIA, enquiries and complaints are received and managed by the compliance officer, and the ethics committee where appropriate.

"Both bodies operate autonomously, guaranteeing strict confidentiality throughout the process.

"As a consequence, and in general, we are unable to confirm the receipt of any specific complaint and it is unlikely that we will be able to provide further comment on the complaints that we may receive from any parties."

If the complainant has lodged a complaint with the FIA then it will potentially force the FIA to address the matter in some way, whether that be through some kind of action or inaction.

Last week in Jeddah, Horner said he wanted everyone to "draw a line under" the saga and focus on the racing once more.

He'd repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said it was "unfortunate" that the leakage of alleged material against Horner to senior F1 figures and journalists had "garnered an awful lot of coverage".

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