Former F1 boss defends Horner: 'Innocent until proven guilty'

Ecclestone stands up for Horner

Ecclestone, who is reportedly acting as an adviser to Horner during the Red Bull investigation, has publicly responded to the case for the first time. The former F1 boss points out that, at the moment, these are only allegations and the team boss is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

"We have been good friends for a long time. He has now been accused. As long as the contrary is not proven, he is innocent," the 93-year-old Briton stressed to the Deutschen Presse-Agentur. On the fact that Red Bull launched an independent investigation into the team boss, he said the following: "Red Bull as a company is in the public eye and needs answers."

So far, no concrete statements have been made about the next steps, the content of the investigation or the independent lawyer's findings. So whether Horner will be present at the unveiling of the RB20 on 15 February remains to be seen. Horner did appear to be present at the shakedown of the 2024 car, which was driven at Silverstone by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Ecclestone did not advise Horner to quit

According to rumours, Ecclestone was to act for Horner in an advisory role. It was later claimed that he would have advised the Red Bull team boss to keep honour to himself and resign from his position, but the former F1 chief strongly denies that this is the case. "To clarify reports by newspapers that I had urged or suggested that Christian Horner should step down from his position in Red Bull is entirely untrue," reads the message on his Instagram page.