F1: Woman who accused Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour files official complaint to FIA

The woman who accused Red Bull team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour has submitted an official complaint to the FIA, according to multiple media reports. The complaint was filed after Red Bull rejected the claims in its internal investigation.

The FIA's ethics committee is responsible for noting the complaint and conducting further investigation. After the reports came out, FIA released a statement where it refused to divulge any further details.

"At the FIA, enquiries and complaints are received and managed by the Compliance Officer, and the Ethics Committee where appropriate. Both the bodies operate autonomously, guaranteeing strict confidentiality throughout the process," the FIA said, per BBC.

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"As a consequence, and in general, we are unable to confirm the receipt of any specific complaint and it is unlikely that we will be able to provide further comment on the complaints that we may receive from any parties," it further said.

The complaint by the woman comesa little over a week after she was suspended by the Milton Keynes-based outfit.According to reports, the employee has not been at Red Bull racing headquarters since March 4after being told to stay home.

What is the controversy?

Aday after Red Bull dismissed the complaint against Horner, an anonymous mail was made public with numerous screenshots showing Horner's alleged inappropriate correspondence with the woman.

However, Horner denied the allegations and said he remains "absolutely confident" that he would stay at the helm for the remainder of the season.

While Horner remains at the helm, all does not appear to be well behind the scenes. Long-time Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko recently claimed he could be suspended by the team over his defiant stance against Horner.

Meanwhile, Horner said Verstappen was free to leave the team if he desired and that he wouldn't stand in his way as no individual was bigger than the team.

"It's like anything in life. You can't force somebody to be somewhere just because of a piece of paper.If somebody didn't want to be at this team, then you know, we're not going to force somebody against their will to be here," said Horner.

"That applies whether it's a machine operator or a designer or somebody in one of the support functions, that runs through the business."

Despite the off-field antics, Red Bull have started the season in supreme manner with Verstappen winning the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The next GP takes place at the Albert Park in Melbourne next week.

(With inputs from agencies)