Christian Horner sacked!

imtoooldforthis said:
Red Bull built a title winning car in 2021.. clawing back a comical performance difference that had previously existed due to a poor engine.

Merc have been a massive failure this entire era with poor design choices one after another and at no point have come close to building a championship winning car. Even in Mercs peak years many people still claimed Red Bull had the better chassis/aero etc and that the engine was the overwhelming reason Merc were dominant.

Red Bull showed their could develop a car throughout one technical era, they started out with no hope of beating Merc but by 2021 they had more or less caught up. I see no evidence of Merc doing that.



Yes but the big difference is red bull pulled back the performance before the end of the era, producing a title winning car.

Merc haven’t pulled anything back this era
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After 7 years you'd expect them to catch up, don't forget the technical change in 21 that gave benefit to the high rake that Merc weren't running which moved RBR above them, and they still only just beat Merc right at the death. Merc have caught up to and surpassed RBR in this era after 4 years based upon the current constructors.

Surprised it took so long for Horner to go with the controversy of the affair and losing Newey, but guessing the lack of competitiveness and MV publically talking to Merc is the nail in the coffin. He'll be back though, and then we can judge how good a TP he is.
 
Feek said:
Do you not consider that now Horner has gone, he has no reason to leave Red Bull? I think he and Jos will be very happy at the moment.
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100% - It's almost a Him (Horner) or Us (Max) situation that was building.

The board are more likely to try and keep the star driver, than the team principal.

Max will get what he wants now at RB - a team built around him again going forward.
 
Kenai said:
There might be some very lucrative contract offers on the table from any teams who make a less than stellar start to 2026 and figure his track record is the ticket to turning things around...
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There is no doubt in that there will be some interest.
 
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Feek said:
Do you not consider that now Horner has gone, he has no reason to leave Red Bull? I think he and Jos will be very happy at the moment.
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Especially if the rumoured performance related break clause wasn't triggered.


Also not seen it mentioned yet, but Alan Permane to head up RB as team principal.

Alan Permane will be promoted to team principal at the sister team Racing Bulls, having been its racing director.
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speedcafe.com

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sacked

It ends a 20-year reign over one of motorsport's most successful teams, having been Red Bull team principal since its
speedcafe.com speedcafe.com
 
booyaka said:
100% - It's almost a Him (Horner) or Us (Max) situation that was building.

The board are more likely to try and keep the star driver, than the team principal.

Max will get what he wants now at RB - a team built around him again going forward.
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Which is 100% the wrong thing to do.
 
sidimmu said:
Is that really the test?

He can choose to go do whatever he wants to, he's accomplished what he needs to, got the money, I reckon he can retire if he wants to.
Sounds like your expectations outweigh the reality.
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Obviously if he is that well revered in the pit then they will be clamouring for his signature to bring them "gold". He doesn't seem like the kind of chap who wants a break. He lives and breaths F1.
 
adam cool dude said:
Obviously if he is that well revered in the pit then they will be clamouring for his signature to bring them "gold". He doesn't seem like the kind of chap who wants a break. He lives and breaths F1.
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I don't think anyone will be signing him before the case hanging over him is resolved next year. The media seem to think he'll have limitations on joining another team applied too. I dunno, I feel like he's more likely to go into something other than F1. He just seems too deeply associated with Red Bull to want to try and build it all again somewhere else.
 
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Rather surprised by this.

It was only a few days ago he was saying the following when backing FV.

"Well, look, I think in any organisation, stability is tremendously important," the Red Bull team principal commented.

"We've had 21 years of stability and, you know, that has borne the kind of results that we've achieved.
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Can't say I will miss him.
 
I read this on reddit:
Conspiracy theory: As many claimed earlier when the sexual harassment news came out, Max has a clause that the contract is void if Horner leaves/is removed. The only reason RB still had Horner despite the case was to keep Max. But the contract also had a condition that if RB scores less than x points after y races the contract is void. Now Max has informed RB that he is going to Mercedes and triggering the exit clause based on the the RB points scored condition. And as such RB thought they might as well kick Horner now that Max is going either way.

Might hold some weight?
 
There seem to be as many rumours that Horner is going in order to keep Max in the team as rumours that he is going because Max is leaving the team. I guess we'll see fairly soon if Max is announced for someone else.
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
I read this on reddit:
Conspiracy theory: As many claimed earlier when the sexual harassment news came out, Max has a clause that the contract is void if Horner leaves/is removed. The only reason RB still had Horner despite the case was to keep Max. But the contract also had a condition that if RB scores less than x points after y races the contract is void. Now Max has informed RB that he is going to Mercedes and triggering the exit clause based on the the RB points scored condition. And as such RB thought they might as well kick Horner now that Max is going either way.

Might hold some weight?
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Either way, it's amazing how much control a single driver has over a team. There's no doubting his talents but it's wild if true.
 
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