Christian Horner: Red Bull employees’ kids are being bullied because of ‘fictitious allegations’ of cheating

Christian Horner has slammed accusations of cheating from rival teams and claims children of Red Bull employees are being bullied in school playgrounds.

“It’s tremendously disappointing for a fellow competitor to accuse you of cheating and fraudulent activity,” Horner told the press.

“It’s shocking, absolutely shocking – without the facts, without any knowledge of the details to make that accusation.

“We’ve been on trial because of public accusation since Singapore with the [accusations] of cheats, or had this enormous benefit.

“The numbers put to the media are miles out of reality. The damage that does to the brand, our partners, to our drivers, to our workers, in an age were mental health is prevalent.

“We are seeing significant issues now within out workforce, we are seeing kids bullied in the playground that our employees’ children. That is not right [because] of fictitious allegations from other teams.

“You cannot go round making that kind of allegation without any fact or substance so we absolutely are appalled by the behaviour of some of our competitors.”

Red Bull are in continued talks with the FIA about what the punishment will be, with reports that the Milton Keynes-based outfit overspent the budget cap by $2million last year.

In response to Horner’s comments Brown stated: “My letter set out that if a team spends more than the cap, they will get an advantage.

“The cap is a rule, just like the technical rules in the sport. We are not taking a rule of if they did or didn’t.

“My letter was ‘if someone has [broken the rules] then here are the things that we think should be addressed.

“No different than if a ride height is incorrect or a flexi-wing, or whatever the case may be. I didn’t mention any teams, it was a general response that we are in the cost cap era, if somebody breaches that, here’s what we think some of the ramifications are.

“I have no idea what the number is. If we had more money to spend, that would put is in a better light for performance with more people, more upgrades – whatever the case may be – we feel it’s a performance benefit.

“That’s up to the FIA if they have or haven’t.”