Red Bull sister team pays tribute to female staff as Horner row rumbles on

Visa Cash App RB praise ‘incredible women’ on their team following troubled week for owners

Red Bull’s sister team will qualify for Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with the names of their female staff on their cars following the suspension of Christian Horner’s accuser from her job.
The gesture by Visa Cash App RB, part of their attempts to mark International Women’s Day, risks piling pressure on Red Bull Racing to come clean about why action has been taken against the woman who raised a formal grievance against Horner.
The RB cars will carry the message, “Happy International Women’s Day to all the incredible women on our team. You make the difference”, alongside the names of their female employees.
Happy International Women’s Day to all the incredible women on our team! Supporting @Amna_Alqubaisii for her first @f1academy race of the season 🙌 pic.twitter.com/tuax0HeEc8
Red Bull’s F1 rivals also posted messages and content to social media celebrating International Women’s Day and their female drivers and staff, including Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams.
The world champions did not follow suit after Amanda Phillips, the commercial operations co-ordinator of Alpine, posted on X in response to Thursday’s suspension news: “I had better not see a single tweet from Red Bull tomorrow saying they support women in motorsport for International Women’s Day. What an utterly abhorrent move from them, suspend the woman but let Horner waltz around the paddock like he owns it.”
After her own team paid tribute to their female staff, she added: “Women in motorsport. We exist, we’re here, we absolutely love what we do despite challenging circumstances at times, and we’re not going anywhere.”
It emerged on Thursday that the Red Bull employee who accused Horner of controlling behaviour had been suspended on full pay as the team principal said the intrusion into his family life had become “enough”.
Horner, 50, said that it was “time to draw a line” under the controversy that has cast a dark shadow over the start of the Formula One season.
Last week, the husband of former Spice Girl Geri Horner was cleared of wrongdoing by an independent barrister appointed by Red Bull’s parent company in Austria.
Telegraph Sport understands that the suspension of Horner’s accuser is in relation to that inquiry, with the BBC reporting the woman was told of concerns around the accuracy of her evidence as an explanation.