And from the Independent -
Christian Horner has been sensationally sacked as Red Bull F1 boss, according to multiple reports.
The Red Bull team principal has been in charge of the outfit since its inception in 2005, leading them to six constructors’ titles and eight drivers’ crowns.
But just one year on from the personal scandal involving alleged “inappropriate behaviour” with a female colleague – an accusation he was cleared of twice – Horner has on Wednesday morning lost his job.
An announcement is expected this morning. Red Bull have been approached for comment.
Red Bull endured a race to forget at the British Grand Prix on Sunday and the team are now positioned a distant fourth in the constructors’ standings
This is an absolute travesty, a lot of you might not like the character you see on TV but he's nothing like that to the staff.
And his replacement.... Dear god WTF
If there's any truth to the allegations - and I assume from the sacking there is - good riddance.
Well that's one announcement I wasn't expecting. I thought Horner was slimey enough to keep himself in that roll until he decided otherwise. What are the chances that Verstappen has signed elsewhere that have triggered this? Or will Horner being sacked be the final straw for Max to go elsewhere?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cn5k6y1xyl3o
Kinda made my day.
"Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history." ...... Now get out 👉
I find Horner quite dislikeable, but he does deserve credit as starting as the youngest team principal and building one of the all-time great teams. Hiring Newey and giving him the resources he needed to build a top-notch technical department was the key to that. Losing Newey is an appropriate bookend to the story. What emerges from the rubble will effectively be a new team, I hope they learn from Horner's mistakes and rebuild as something a bit easier to like.
Fred Vasseur right now.
This is an absolute travesty, a lot of you might not like the character you see on TV but he's nothing like that to the staff.
And his replacement.... Dear god WTF
Too friendly if anything! (allegedly) On that note, I wonder what happens with the tribunal now?
It will be interesting to see if the real reason for the sacking comes out.
Max & Jos are (IIRC) team Marko, so it could be a "he goes or i do" deal to keep Max in the team. Then again, would Max really want the instability a new team principle would introduce?
would Max really want the instability a new team principle would introduce?
He may want to wait a year to see how the new engines and cars work out next year. If the Red Bull is uncompetitive, at least he'll know which team is a better alternative.
[i]
1) Oscar beats Lando for the World Champ and Lando retires due to stress and mental anxiety setting up a llama farm in Cornwal
2) Fred gets kicked out of Ferrari and Hamilton has no support so leave for Aston.
3) Stroll the Younger gets bored and goes to play tennis.
4) Max sees how much he can screw Mercedes and then goes for the spare seat at Ferrari to cause much team tension with Le Clerc.
5) Red Bull implodes and tries to grab Russel from Mercedes but loses him to McLaren so gets Bob from the local chip shop as a wild card.
6) Spare seat at Mercedes gets fought over by the other newbies and Hadjar gets it as he is better than I thought.
Drive to Survive reboot?
What fun ideas from you guys?[/i]
They are just doing the ground woirk for my masterplan detailed a couple of pages ago.
Point 2 will happen soon for Fred, if not Hamilton.
Points 4 & 5 are underway.
I think Red Bull have realised that they absolutely cannot loose Max, without him they're nowhere. The Marko/Verstappen group have probs given an ultimatum that the only way they even think about staying is if Horner goes. I think they want a change in direction for the car that Horner is either not willing to go along with or actively rejects. It'll be interesting to see if there are any more major changes to the team in terms of engine or aero recruitment.
I think Red Bull have realised that they absolutely cannot loose Max, without him they're nowhere.
...but that's because the "team" has gone down a dead-end road with the car, to suit Max.
F1 is a team sport. I remember years ago Ron Dennis (maybe Frank Williams too) talking about the constructors championship being the most important thing. Promoting the individual to the exclusion of team success is a very focused approach that can work well (qv Red Bull) but can also fail badly (qv Red Bull).
I think they want a change in direction for the car that Horner is either not willing to go along with or actively rejects.
Horner doesn't design the car, the engineers do. Adrian Newey was the technical director when this year's car was designed. The car problems are Newey's responsibility.
but he's nothing like that to the staff.
Which staff......the one that accused him of sexual assault?
I think it was Jensen Button in an interview recently that repeated the adage that you leave F1 the same age you joined it. He was referring to drivers, but I wonder if it applies to team principles too. 31 was incredibly young into that role....before you've possibly learnt the man management and taking responsibility for your own actions skills that come with age and breadth of experiences.
The car problems are Newey's responsibility.
Or was he being forced into making the car perfect for Max, not giving him a choice to make it work for other drivers. THat, plus other factors, being the reason he left the team?
So who are we going to complain about now!?
Hornier told Brundlenthat he hasn't been given a reason for the sacking (according to Brundle anyway)
Or was he being forced into making the car perfect for Max
That's not really what happened. The car development is guided by windtunnel and simulation results. They'd try stuff in the windtunnel and see that it improved downforce, then put it on the car. The problem was that the extra downforce was "peaky" and difficult to access on the limit. Max could handle that but Perez couldn't. It wasn't a deliberate decision to design the car for Max, just to make a faster car. It worked, Max won four world titles on the trot, but they pushed it too far and now it's a dead end. If they try to make the current car easier to drive, it'll be slower. so they need to throw away several years of development and start again.
Last week if you'd have said that Tsunoda would outlast Horner at Red Bull, you would have been laughed at...
Horner doesn't design the car, the engineers do
yep, aware I meant the direction of the team in general, driver choice speed of development of parts: aero engine etc etc Ultimately that's (was) Horners responsibility. The Verstappens have been unhappy for a while now.
The key question is, to quote Jennie Gow: ‘is this to protect Max from leaving Red Bull or is this because he's left Red Bull already and this is the result of that?'
So that's Horner sacked, Max to Mercedes, Alpine changing drivers again, Vasseur being ejected from Ferrari... As someone on threads suggested:
"F1 isn't a sport, it's a reality show with lap times"
Can't remember where I read it (might have been Andrew Benson on Chequered Flag) , but I liked the theory that Max will take a sabbatical in 26, then go to either Merc or Aston once he knows who has the best car in the new regs
Also, odds on Horner turning up at Alpine?
Also, odds on Horner turning up at Alpine?
I'd put money on him never being a F1 team principal again.
Indycar I reckon. He's got the feel of an American, just with a British accent.
I'd put money on him never being a F1 team principal again.
Yep, just like Flav being banned from the sport for life.
The Race reporting that two of Horners senior allies have also been relieved of their duties - starting to look like a coup within the team.
Nobody told RB’s social media department it seems. Impeccable timing.
Bernice reckons Horner must have done something really bad to warrant being fired with immediate effect, not just poor performance
[i]Some very influential and high-profile members of the team have left in recent years, in part due to personal and/or professional controversies Horner has been part of, including former technical chief Adrian Newey, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, chief engineering officer Rob Marshall and soon-to-leave strategy boss Will Courtenay, who will reunite with Marshall at McLaren next year.[/i]
Looks like Red Bull have tried to pull a bad tooth from the team by chopping off its head.
Do we not think that Max has signed for Mercedes already? Might have been the final nail...
So who are we going to complain about now!?
Don't worry, there's plenty of other dislikeable characters to chose from. Jos, Max, Lance, Flavio, MBS...
Would it be a daft idea for Verstappen and Hadjar to swap cars for a couple of races?
Would be interesting to watch, and should give RB plenty of information in the bad car/rubbish second driver debate.
Given that Yuki and Liam were both going better in the junior team it might also help get more points for Max if he gets promoted to VCARB, get his championship back on track...
Do we not think that Max has signed for Mercedes already? Might have been the final nail...
Opinion seems split between 'Horner has lost Verstappen, let's get rid of him' and 'Verstappen wants Horner out so let's get rid of him to keep Max' Has he gone because Max has gone, or gone to keep Max?
Time will tell, but my feeling, based on very little evidence, is that Max will be at Merc next year. If that's the case I would love to see Kimi do to him what Lewis did to Fernando
The thing is, though, Russell is really firing on all cylinders. He’s beaten all his teammates, whether that’s trouncing everyone at Williams or edging ahead of a 7-time champion. He’s clearly getting the most out of the Merc at the moment (ok, Silverstone was a gamble that failed, but why not?) and has pretty much put a lid on the occasional but significant errors of old. He’s still getting better and better. Kimi is close on a good weekend, albeit still definitely behind, but he’s had some bad weekends lately.
Toto has a tough choice to make if Verstappen joins. With George he gets two top end drivers who are both performing at their best, but with the risk of fireworks. With Kimi he has a clearer 1-2 relationship but a question mark over whether Kimi will deliver in 2026.
McLaren and Ferrari both have two very strong drivers each. Mercedes might need the same. Honestly right now I think George is the better choice to keep. I suspect Toto sees it differently though, and he’s probably slightly better at this than I am 😂
I read somewhere that both Toto's and Max's private yachts were in Sicily this weekend.....probably rubbish
If Merc signs Verstappen and farms Kimi out to another team "on loan", would Russell accept being no.2 driver (as I'm pretty sure Verstappen wouldn't accept anything other than outright no.1 status)....?
