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Naturally, the one suffering the most from the fallout of a sexting scandal is the woman involved.

As Red Bull boss Christian Horner makes his way back into the spotlight for an official FIA press conference in Saudi Arabia, where the next Grand Prix is taking place, with his job and relationship intact – he’s married to former Spice Girl Geri Horner – the woman at work who accused him of inappropriate and controlling behaviour has been suspended by Red Bull.

BBC Sport has learned the reason given by Red Bull to the employee was that she had been dishonest.

Dare I use the P word? And by that I mean the patriarchy, which is clearly thriving in F1 right now.

At a news conference ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, the Formula 1 team boss said it was now time to “look forward and to draw a line” under the allegations, adding that the “intrusion on my family is now enough”.

Horner, who has vehemently denied the claims against him, was cleared of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards a colleague by the team’s Austrian parent company Red Bull GmbH last week.

Shortly after being cleared of misconduct, however, leaked screenshots of his alleged WhatsApp conversations with a female co-worker spurned the drama even further. If these screenshots are indeed authentic, the court of public opinion may very well struggle to swallow the ‘not guilty’ verdict.

The fact that everybody refuses to talk on the matter surely also makes Horner look like a sorry sack. Per the BBC, the 50-year-old refused to say whether the messages leaked were genuine at last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix, and an attempt to ask him whether the messages were genuine was shut down by a Red Bull PR handler.

Then the debacle took on a triangular shape after it was revealed that Jos Verstappen was ‘spending time’ with the woman at the heart of the Red Bull sexting scandal and became angry with Horner when he started sending her suggestive messages.

Suddenly, Max Verstappen’s dad looks like a green-eyed monster for claiming he would “explode” if the team principal remained in his role. Horner and Verstappen Snr were seen in a heated conversation in Red Bull’s hospitality lounge over the weekend so it’s perhaps best that Max’s father will not be attending this weekend’s race in Saudi Arabia.

Someone grab the pacifiers for these two 50-year-old men fighting over a woman, please.

Meanwhile, the woman at the centre of all of this is now jobless. It is understood Horner’s female accuser, who is believed to have reported in for work in Milton Keynes on Monday, has been suspended on full pay as a direct result of Red Bull’s inquiry.

A Red Bull Racing spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment as it is an internal matter.”

Horner’s accuser is believed to have received a legal letter at the beginning of this week and now has five working days to appeal against the outcome of the investigation which has cast an enormous shadow over Red Bull and the sport.

[sources:bbc&skynews]