The storm raging at Red Bull masks the broader problems of power imbalances between men and women in the sport
Say what you like about Christian Horner, but when it comes to crisis PR management he is a star pupil. On Thursday evening in Saudi Arabia, he was asked 12 questions about the storm raging at Red Bull, but his message never deviated. Nine times he used the words “move on”, “look forward” or “move forward”. And on 16 occasions he stressed the need to focus on the future. On the race, the season, the track – anything, in fact, but the soap opera swirling around him.
“There’s obviously been an awful lot of coverage around this situation,” he said at one point. “But I think the time really is now to move on, to focus on what’s going on on the track.” That’s the three As of crisis PR management right there – accept, acknowledge, affirm.