Christian Horner was dismissed this week from his two decade long tenure at the Red Bull Racing team. He was recruited to rebuild the team from the ashes of the Jaguar F1 programme and his success has only been superseded by Ron Dennis during his time in charge at McLaren.
The Red Bull operation is a complicated matter, with Horner overseeing the entire Milton Keynes campus which includes Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the new Powertrains divisions together with the Formula One racing team. There are questions whether his replacement Laurent Mekies has the experience to capably manage such a broad portfolio.
Toto Wolff is often compared to Horner given his monumental rise in the sport as an owner and CEO of the Mercedes team. Yet when Wolff arrived at Mercedes in 2013, much of the transformation work had been competed since the acquisition of the Brixworth outfit from Ross Brawn in 2010. Christian Horner by comparison had to start from scratch with Red Bull, recruiting Newey for his second year in charge.
Ferrari reports grow stronger
The recently sacked Red Bull boss will not be short on offers in the world of F1, with his skills and experience even attractive to Liberty Media’s management company, FOM. This option has been largely ignored in the aftermath of Wednesday mornings shocking news, although Stefano Domenicali is believed to be close to the former Red Bull CEO.
Ferrari have approached Horner on a number of occasions over the years, with veteran F1 writer stating John Elkann the Ferrari group chairman made a significant effort to recruit the Red Bull boss back in 2022. More recently the Italian media have been reporting the senior management at Ferrari are unhappy with the performance of the team and consequently Fred Vasseur – who is out of contract at the end of this season – is currently in a perilous position.
Horner was asked at the team principal’s meeting during this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, whether the approach from the Scuderia was of interest to the Red Bull boss. At the time his response was conclusive: “Look, I mean, of course, it’s always flattering to be associated with other teams, but my commitment, 100%, is with Red Bull – it always has been and certainly will be for the long-term,” said Horner.
Jokingly he referred to his friend of many years, Flavio Briatore, whose flamboyant character is often represented by his pigeon English. “I mean, my Italian is worse than Flavio’s English, so how on earth would that work?” Grinned the Milton Keynes boss. Yet now everything has changed with Horner being removed from his Red Bull role. But being the boss at Ferrari is a poisoned chalice that many a hopeful have tasted from only to find their F1 careers ended in a handful of years.
Alpine require Horner’s skill set
Now ex-F1 driver and German media pundit, Ralf Schumacher, believes the options in front of Horner are genuine. Speaking to Smile 90.4FM, he gave his thoughts on Christian Horner’s future. “There is a good chance at Ferrari because for Fred Vasseur it seems to be that they’re looking for a new CEO, and it looks like it because there’s no patience at Ferrari. It would be a shame because Fred Vasseur now turned everything around, he has two drivers but obviously the management at Ferrari is not happy with him.”
There are paddock whispers which suggest if Horner refuses the lucrative move to Italy, the ex-McLaren team boss Andreas Siedl is being lined up to replace Vasseur. And were the ex-Red Bull boss decide to remain in Formula One, there are other suitors which m ay offer him something Red Bull never did.
“And also Flavio Briatore, don’t forget, he’s also in for something because they have an interim [boss at Alkpine]. So yes, there’s a good chance for him,” added Schumacher. The chaos the Enstone based team have suffered, from persistent management changes in the past five seasons, may well resemble something Horner found on his first day arrival at Milton Keynes.
“And to be fair with Christian, he has had very big success with the team. He changed a few things and he made a mistake maybe, but at the end he’s still very experienced and he’s a good manager,” Schumacher concluded.
Equity stake may be a driver
Horner has remained tight lipped since his dismissal from Red Bull Racing as to his future plans, though at just 51 years of age it would be premature to write of his F1 future. Christian Horner for now remains an employee at Red Bull Racing and whilst he has been relieved of his operational duties, there’s the small matter of his $75m five year contract to resolve.
It is expected like Newey, he will be held to a relative short period of gardening leave, but with Ferrari wanting answers quickly its unclear how this will affect Horner’s ability to join the Scuderia. Something Red Bull never offered Horner and Newey, was an equity stake in the F1 team which they built from a $400m investment to a team worth more than $3bn today.
Meanwhile Toto Wolff having been given the opportunity to do so with Mercedes when he joined in 2013, was recently estimated with a net worth in excess of $1bn. Newey got his wishes when joining Aston Martin. His seniority was recognised with the title “partner” and he was awarded shares in the team he hopes to bring to the front of the grid.
Aston Martin: The dark horse
The worst kept secret in the paddock is that Renault eventually want to offload the Alpine team if its fortunes can be revived, as evidenced by the shareholding they sold in 2023 to a US based group of investors. The amount paid for the 24% equity stake in the F1 team meant the business as a whole was valued at $900m, some way below the $3bn price tag currently placed on the team Horner built.
One opportunity not discussed to date since the news of Horner’s dismissal is that of Aston Martin. Their newly ‘self appointed’ team principal Andy Cowell does not have the gravitas of Wolff or Horner and his original was was to oversea the behind the scenes integration between Honda and the F1 team. This would see the dream team of Homer and Newey reunited and as with the guru F1 car designer, team owner Lawrence Stroll wold have equity on offer.
MORE F1 NEWS – Why a 12th F1 team is now on the cards
Since the acquisition of the commercial rights to Formula One by US based Liberty Media, interest in the sport has exploded across the world. The number of race weekends has now reached an all time high and across the grid the incremental interest in the sport has seen the number of team sponsors and partners more than double in under a decade.
The news this week that Apple is substantially outbidding the current US F1 broadcaster ESPN for the rights from next year onwards is further evidence of the significant growth in popularity of the sport in North America. ESPN has been televising F1 since 2018 when NBC failed to renew its $4m a year licensing arrangement with the sport.
The Disney owned channel originally acquired the rights at no cost given the lack of competition, although as F1’s popularity boomed due to the success of the Netflix series, “Drive to Survive” come 2020 they agreed a $5m a year fee with FOM. The following season ESPN agreed a massive increase in the annual fee reported to be around $85m a year, but now the rights will expire at the end of this season….. READ MORE
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
