Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who met with Christian Horner in Bahrain, did not elaborate on what he had said, but did declare that the headlines surrounding team principals were “damaging” F1.
Horner was released from investigation following an investigation into suspicious conduct by Salzburg-based Red Bull's parent company Red Bull, but 24 hours later an email purporting to contain information related to the investigation was released. , the team principal is back in the headlines.
In response, Horner issued a personal statement saying he would not comment on “anonymous speculation.”
“It’s damaging the sport…This is damaging on a human level.”
He added: “I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and cooperated fully at every step.
“A thorough and fair investigation has been carried out by an independent specialist barrister and we have reached the conclusion that the charges should be dismissed. I remain fully focused as we prepare for the start of the season.”
But on the same day that Max Verstappen's pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix was overshadowed by problems with his team principal, FIA president Ben Sulayem held a private meeting with Horner.
Speaking later to the Financial Times, he did not elaborate on what he had said other than to say the story was “damaging” to F1.
“It's damaging the sport…This is damaging on a human level,” Ben Sulayem said.
He said it was important to “protect our sport from all of this”, adding: “It's the start of the season. F1 is becoming very popular. Just enjoy the start of the season. Look at the competition.
“Why do we cover it with negative emotions?”
FIA chiefs confirmed there were no plans to launch an independent investigation as the governing body had not received any formal complaints.
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Former F1 driver and commentator Martin Brundle said the Horner investigation was a “horrible situation” for everyone involved.
“My personal opinion is that I'm very sad about this whole situation. There's a lot of people caught up in this,” he told Sky Sports.
“Formula 1 is all over the world's front pages and on the internet, but it's not about racing. It's not about who's going to win this Grand Prix or who's going to get pole position.
“So I think there's no question that what's happening is bad for F1 and I believe that some action needs to be taken to move this forward and bring it to an absolute conclusion. .”
“But like I said, it feels to me like this is the beginning of the story rather than the end, but we'll have to wait and see.
“We'll have to wait and see, but what we do know is that all allegations have been denied and it's a terrible situation no matter how you look at it, right?”
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