Editor’s note, July 9, 2025, 10:45 am ET: On July 9, Red Bull’s Formula 1 team principal Christian Horner was fired. His removal followed a tough year for the team, one that saw dwindling performance, high turnover of critical engineers, staff and drivers, and rumors about the potential exit of four-time world champ Max Verstappen. As of 10:30 am, a reason hasn’t been made public, but below you’ll find an explainer — initially published on March 8, 2024 — behind last year’s allegations of sexual harassment, a scandal that may have contributed to the downfall of the once-dominant team.

The line between spectacle and sport has always been blurry. But when it comes to Formula 1 — the global motorsport with some of the fastest cars and deepest pockets — the biggest institutional players seem to forget that there’s a difference between delicious drama and legitimate controversy.

It’s easy to mistake the two when so much of the elite sport’s success can be attributed to Drive to Survive, the addictive Netflix show that explains the intimidating technicalities and stakes of F1 through the catty interpersonal drama between teammates and competitors alike. My colleague Byrd Pinkerton described the show in 2021 this way: “Basically, imagine the Real Housewives, if the housewives were driving around at 300 kilometers an hour, and if occasionally one of the housewives caught on fire.”

What’s at stake?

Prior to reporting this story, I attended several races in the last few years, bonded with an increasingly diverse fan community, and spoke with pit crew personnel at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix. Here’s what you need to know:

• The investigation and allegations against Christian Horner, explained
• Who gets to control the narrative
• What this means for women employees and fans in motorsport

Have questions? Email me: izzie.ramirez@voxmedia.com.

As a result, F1 has experienced years of explosive growth, especially in the US. More eyes has meant more races: You might have heard Las Vegas residents griping about the construction inconveniences and inaccessibility of last November’s brand-new street race. Or how Elon Musk, Shakira, and Vin Diesel rolled out to the Miami Grand Prix. There’s also the sheer stardom of the drivers: thirst traps of Lewis Hamilton going viral, Daniel Ricciardo gracing the cover of GQ, and endless brand deals for nearly everyone on the grid. (That’s where the 20 drivers start the race!)

Right now, though, a controversy might change how people see the ordinarily glitzy sport — especially the growing female fanbase F1 is all too happy to court via social media. In 2022, approximately 40 percent of fans were female, up 8 percent from five years ago, according to Stefano Domenicali, CEO of the Formula 1 Group.

In early February, energy drink company and team owner Red Bull launched an independent investigation into its Formula 1 team principal, Christian Horner, for potential misconduct toward a team member. Red Bull did not specify the details of the nature of the alleged misconduct nor who it was against, leading to rumors. Horner, who manages team strategy and personnel, was cleared a few days ahead of the start of the season.

A day after Red Bull dismissed the investigation, a Google Drive folder was anonymously sent to more than 100 reporters, other team principals, and members of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body for the sport. The folder contains nearly 80 different files, most of which are screenshots of WhatsApp messages between what is allegedly Horner and a female employee.

Vox is currently in the process of verifying the........

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