https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/christian-horner-sacked-as-red-bull-f1-team-boss/10740708/
Christain Horner will be a hard act to follow, with all the success he brought to Red Bull over the years. Considered as the best team principal in F1 for a long time (with Toto Wolff very close), Horner built Red Bull Racing to what it is now. But the team started to lose essential staff from last season, and the alledged sex scandal gave ammunition to those who wanted him to go. It's a done thing now. A new era opens at Red Bull.
one of the most dominant seasons in F1 to being ****canned in disgrace in 18 months life comes at you fast
NO shock at all. Dieter son wanted him out on 4 Feb 2024. He has destroyed a winning team, with every single decision taken since his personal world collapsed via his fingers on a phone. Hubris..............
How long before Max leaves and Marko. They are the next moves. Jos literally warned him, Horner, he was going to destroy a winning team.
Mekies is now stepping in Horner's shoes at Red Bull, with Racing Bulls racing director Alan Permane replacing him at the sister team as team principal, working together with CEO Peter Bayer.
Christian Horner was protected by Dieter Mateschitz for year, who endorsed his decisions, even if his entourage didn't approve. The failure of the Red Bull-Porsche cooperation was attributed to Horner wanting to keep control. That apparently shocked the Austrians at Red Bull Gmbh who had made the initial contact with Zuffenhausen. The decision to create Red Bull Powertrain in association with Ford became Horner's pet project, After Mateschitz Senior passed away, the Red Bull board, with Mateschitz Jr, started to question the massive investment needed. The "sex scandal" was a clumsy attempt to get rid of Horner; that failed. This time, "Mr Halliwell" is gone for good, it seems.
Horner kept his job due to the Thai faction owning 1% more of the company. They stopped the son from firing him. The Thai faction fully supported Horner until now. This was a board decision.
While I am not a fan of Horner's it is hard to argue with the extreme success he has had. I don't think I have ever seen a team principal that fought their corner as hard as he did. Horner ABSOLULTELY believed in everything he did and was very good and executing on it. This is a stark reminder of what a brutal business F1 can be and how sometimes in life when momentum (right or wrong) starts going against you that it is near impossible to stop it.
When they see Cadillac struggle and the new RedBull PU not be competitive for a few years they will think its time to leave and not have their name in F1 lol.
The entire Horner issue for RedBull is shared politically within RedBull Corporate, the 2 families involved and RedBull Thailand. Thats a nice soup lol.
It was released around the F1 press and paddock that Horner would go if needed to keep Max. Do the math. There is more to this and Jos probably knows where all the 'bodies' are buried lol
Probably more than a few. The turmoil not at RedBull is in full motion. Who else is going to leave and that includes talent at the new Power Unit shops.
First we have Audi behind with their new PU development. Then Red Bull Powertain at risk in a possible corporate reshuffle. Even Honda is admitting they are struggling with the new formula. Also the big unknown is Cadillac making their own powertrain by 2028.
Horner was a "do whatever you have to do to win" principal. RB will definitely operate like a different team without him.
