BREAKING: SkySportsF1: Dakota McManus testifies in front of FIA probe in relation to Red Bull Driver's Academy misconduct accusations ahead of Silverstone GP

MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND - Dakota McManus met today with the FIA-appointed all-female panel built to investigate her time at the Red Bull Driver's Academy from 2019 until late 2020.

The panel, consisting of Claire Williams, Stephanie Carlin, Danica Patrick, Naomi Schiff and Katherine Bond-Muir, was assembled following the Monaco Grand Prix after explosive allegations of misconduct and neglect targeting Dr. Helmut Marko and the RBDA came to light.

McManus was a member of the RBDA and a testing driver for Toro Rosso from 2019 to mid 2020 before she abruptly left the academy following her grandfather's well-publicized stroke and subsequent departure from AlphaTauri. Graham McManus was the team's pit crew chief, a position that McManus took over for the 2021 season.

The inquest met today in Milton Keynes ahead of the British Grand Prix to hear from McManus herself. In the previous weeks, the team has heard from Danill Kvyat, McManus' former roommates Liam Lawson and Dan Ticktum, as well as her doctors and her sister, Virginia.

"I'm not angry any more. There's no anger left in my body, especially not at Red Bull. That organization doesn't deserve any more of my time or energy, if I'm being honest." McManus said in a paddock-side interview with former world champion Jenson Button this morning. 

"My little hospital visit Montreal put things in perspective for me. At this point, I need to let it go. It's always going to be a thing that happened to me, but being stuck in that headspace is just going to make things worse for me. I need to focus on my life going forward, and I need to put this behind me."

When asked about what she hopes the results of the probe will bring, McManus stated that she was indifferent to the results. 

"At the end of the day, we all know that the findings won't change anything. All that I can hope for is that this wonderful team of women that I have been working with will be able to make sure that nothing like this ever happens to another young, impressionable girl in our sport."

PlanetF1: Bond-Muir: "Driver's academies need to hire trainers, dieticians that work with women, and know what young women need to be their healthiest selves, otherwise we are no closer to getting a woman back on the F1 grid."

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