Chris Medland: Formula 1 Journalist on the sacking of Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner

Red Bull have waved the chequered flag to team principal Christian Horner.  

The 51-year-old had been in the role since 2005, overseeing eight drivers' world championships and six constructors' titles. 

The syndicate sits fourth on the teams' ladder this season, and four-time defending world champion Max Verstappen has won two of 12 races with reports suggesting he is considering a shift to Mercedes. 

F1 Journalist Chris Medland told Heather du Plessis-Allan that while no definitive reasons have been given yet, there are multiple possibilities. 

He says that the team’s form on the track has been in decline over the last 18 months, and Horner also faced controversy off the track during that time.  

Verstappen’s future could have also been central to the decision, Medland says, with Verstappen also wanting to see change and not getting it under Horner’s leadership. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now big news from the IF one World overnight read
Bull boss Christian Horner has been sacked. He was, of
course the one who gave Liam Lawson the run around
earlier this year. Chris Midland is a Formula one journalist
and is worth.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Us morning Chris morning, Hell, how are you doing?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And well, thank you? Any idea what's gone on here?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Well, there's multiple reasons I think that could come into it.
None have been firmly given by Red Bull, and they've
been very quiet, both the parent company and the racing
team itself about any potential reasons. But if you look
over the last eighteen months, the team has certainly been
in decline in terms of its form on the track,
and Christian Horner's faced off track controversy in that time

(00:37):
as well. So in some ways you could see this
coming over that period, but in others it looked like
he'd written out the storm and it comes as a shock.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
It sounds like, at least it's been a reported that
he had yet another argument with Joss for steppin last weekend.
Could that have been the thing that has sort of
been the moment that breaks it?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I don't think an argument with theos would have been
the key to it in that sense, But I do
think concern over Max the Staffen's future could be central
to it because, as I said, the form has not
been good for Red Bull that the trend at least.
You know, Max did win the championship last year, but
he kind of linked to it with the car he
had in the second half of the season. Doesn't have
a card this year that he can fight to the

(01:16):
title with, and he's slipping back in contention as well
right now. Now he's looking at other options. He's got
break clauses in his contract based on performance, and Red
Bull know that their biggest asset right now is Max
the Staffan because they've lost a number of key team
members and they're not delivering the car for him, So
to lose him, it's kind of like, what's their usp
where's their strength? And I think that panic is what

(01:38):
may have led to it. So the Rastapans also want
to see change, they want to see improvement, and they
weren't getting it under Horn's leadership. So there's a chance
that there's an ultimatum there that's been rumored, But even
if there wasn't, I think just the ownership of the
Red Bull rating team looking at it and think something's
got to give.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Does this change the outlook for Liam Lawson?

Speaker 2 (01:59):
I'd say no based on I think Liam has even
having some good performances more recently. He had a really
good result in Austria just two weekends ago. But he's
back in the junior team for this year, which is
realistically where he probably should have been anyway for his development.
It would have been better if he'd had a bit
more stability to build experience, and if he performs well
within the team this year, then yes, he'll have a

(02:21):
better outlook moving forward, but that's all within him. In
the sense, Horner being at Red Bull or not being
at Red Bull didn't make a huge difference. Horner had
backed him and wanted him to be in that seat
at the start of the year, and then had been
there when they overturned that decision after just two races.
But Lauren Mechis, who has now gone in as CEO
and team principal at Red Bull to replace Horner, was
the team principal at Racing Balls with Liam as well

(02:42):
and was a big fan of Liam, so I don't
think he's kind of lost any allies in that sense,
and It just comes down to what he can do
on track.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Good stuff, Chris Good to Talk Chris Midland, Formula one journalist.
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