The ongoing saga surrounding controversial comments reportedly made by Christian Horner has taken another twist.
The Red Bull boss has found himself at the centre of a war of words involving Formula 1 pundits Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard, after being quoted as referring to the former as a 'f***ing silent assassin' regarding his role in the departure of design chief Adrian Newey.
The technical guru shocked the sporting world earlier this month by announcing he would resign from his post at the reigning constructors' champions, with speculation on his future ramping up in the aftermath.
Ferrari have emerged as the frontrunners to secure Newey's signature, a move which would see the Brit team up with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in 2025.
Speaking on an episode of the Formula for Success Podcast, Jordan - Newey's manager - appeared to attribute Horner with making the x-rated slur, but the former F1 team boss has claimed he was misquoted.
Instead, Coulthard has now revealed he was the one responsible for delivering the comment.
In the latest episode of the duo's podcast, the former McLaren driver said: "You [Jordan] had attributed Christian Horner with calling you a ‘f****** silent assassin’, whereas we both know it was actually me."
Jordan responded: "I kind of ignored what I’d said about the silent assassin - it was absolutely you [who said it], and thank you for bringing it up.
"Christian was upset with me, and I was saying ‘this is ridiculous’ because it’s the second time.
"I’ve been a friend of Christian for 30-odd years, he tried to buy my team all those years ago, and I know him, his family, and all of us grew up in that area together.
"It’s just nonsense that media are putting things in a place which might affect either a friendship or relationship going forward."