Jul.10 (GMM) The entire Formula 1 world is wondering ‘What’s next?’ after Wednesday’s shock news.
Having survived last year’s ‘sexting’ scandal, a resulting power struggle and several high-profile staff departures, Christian Horner has been suddenly sacked by Red Bull.
It is believed the move came after his staunch supporter, 51 percent owner Chalerm Yoovidhya, finally caved and agreed with the Austrian side of the business that he should go.
Also fascinating is that the news broke on the very same day that Mercedes’ executive board approved a bid to try to lure Max Verstappen to the German marque for 2026 and beyond.
“A coincidence? Hardly,” the Austrian newspaper Osterreich noted.
After the chequered flag at Silverstone – another difficult race for Verstappen – Horner was seen arguing with Max’s influential father Jos.
“You could see that Jos was anything but happy with the situation,” former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland, admitting that his criticism of Horner left him on a “blacklist”.
Schumacher thinks Horner’s 20-year-old reign at Red Bull has simply run its course.
“In the end, it really was the case that they were no longer able to attract or retain good people,” he said. “They simply didn’t want to come because of his personality.”
Other rumours suggest Horner was poised to try once again to oust consultant Dr Helmut Marko, or block a move by the Verstappen camp to buy into the Milton-Keynes based team.
“His team most likely wants to buy shares, like Toto Wolff did at Mercedes,” former F1 driver Vitaly Petrov said on Telegram.
Bernie Ecclestone, a long-time Horner confidante, says the 51-year-old was shocked by Wednesday’s news. Dutch racing personality Tom Coronel surmised: “Something must have happened to cause a bit of panic.
“This tells me something’s wrong. There must have been a fire,” he told the Dutch publication Formule 1.
Mika Salo agrees, telling Ilta Sanomat: “I believe there is something behind the scenes that the public is not being told about.
“There is nothing else to say about this, unless you know.”
Two Horner allies – communications boss Paul Smith and head of marketing Oliver Hughes – are following Horner out of the door, and rumours already suggest the Briton could be heading to Ferrari or Alpine.
Alpine boss and Horner ally Flavio Briatore wished the Briton well for his “next adventure”.
Quadruple world champion Verstappen stayed quiet about the most recent rumblings about Horner’s future at recent races, but it is believed he had a meeting with CEO Oliver Mintzlaff just a few days ago.
Max and Jos’s manager Raymond Vermeulen was very careful with his words on Wednesday: “It’s up to Red Bull to share the background to the decision.
“In Red Bull’s view, this is the best way forward,” he added. “It’s up to the parent company to hire people and make strategic choices.”
As for the future, Vermeulen added: “Nothing changes for us. We continue to look at the sporting side and are looking for more performance, so that we can return to the top.”
A correspondent for Sky Italia believes Verstappen was “using the Mercedes offer” to force change at Red Bull. “The Dutchman asked for a second person to work with alongside Horner.
“Now, with this move, many possibilities open up. But I believe that with Horner’s departure, Verstappen is destined to fulfill his contract until 2028.”
Red Bull Racing, including the new Red Bull-Ford engine project, will now be headed by Laurent Mekies, with Alan Permane stepping up at Racing Bulls.
“We continue to look forward to returning to the Formula 1 grid in 2026,” a Ford official declared.
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