The female employee who accused the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, of inappropriate behaviour is believed to have launched an appeal against the decision made by the investigation into the allegations, which had dismissed the complaint.

Her decision to not allow the matter to drop will once more thrust Red Bull and Horner into the spotlight. Horner has always emphatically denied any wrongdoing, however the appeal against the findings of the inquiry will reignite the controversy which has dominated Formula One for more than six weeks.

The woman in question has already been suspended from her role at Red Bull Racing, it is believed on the basis of the evidence she gave to the investigation.

The employee, who has not been named, made the allegations against Horner which have been under investigation since early January and became public in early February. After an independent inquiry conducted by an English barrister, Red Bull Racing’s parent company, which instigated the investigation, rejected the grievance.

Horner wanted to draw a line under the case but it was almost immediately further complicated when a leaked email was shared with senior team personnel, F1, the FIA and the media, featuring messages purporting to be between Horner and the complainant.

The issue has since exposed serious divides within Red Bull Racing and with its parent company, Red Bull GmbH.

The father of their world champion driver Max Verstappen, Jos, has twice stated he believes Horner’s position is untenable, while Verstappen warned he could leave the team when Red Bull’s director of motorsport, Helmut Marko, faced a potential suspension last week, of which he was subsequently cleared.

There have been repeated calls for the findings of the investigation to be made public by other teams, F1 and the FIA but Red Bull GmbH insist this is not possible for confidentiality reasons, a lack of transparency that is of concern to many in the sport and which has prevented Red Bull from drawing the matter to a close.