Jos denies involvement in Horner sacking – In the three weeks since Christian Horner was removed from his role at the Red Bull Racing empire, the Austrian overlords who sacked the longest standing team boss in the paddock have remained tight lipped over the reason for his departure.
A number of theories have emerged as to why the directors of the Austrian parent company acted as they did, but the most reasonable explanation was this was all part of the power struggle which emerged following the death of the energy drinks empire founder, Didi Mateschitz, during the 2022 US Grand Prix weekend.
Just months earlier, Horner is believed to have blocked a move to sell half the Red Bull Racing team to Porsche, something current CEO Oliver Mintzlaff was believed to actively support. The then team boss believed the cultural impact of the corporate style management of the German automaker, would impact on the entrepreneur style of culture and nimble decision making, would negatively impact the F1 team.
Jos and Horner public spat
This aside, speculation remains that Horner’s final demise was due to the influence of the Verstappen camp, particularly father Jos, who has been at loggerheads with Horner since the news broke of a female complaining about the Red Bull boss’s “inappropriate behaviour.” Two subsequent investigations cleared Horner of any wrong doing, yet despite this Jos Verstappen continued to claim the team would “explode” unless the Red Bull boss was to leave the team.
Whilst the public spat between the two had died down in the media, Jos remained noticeable by his absence from what used to be regular visits to the team’s garage during race weekends. In Belgium, Verstappen returned to the team’s facilities at the Spa Francorhamps race track and was ‘loud and proud’ as he remained on the grid before the start of Sunday’s race.
Martin Brundle was joined by 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg on his regular grid walk and they encountered Jos lurking near the front of his sons car. The part time presenter on Sky F1 is one who often courts controversy wherever possible and his questions to Verstappen’s father were no different.
Rosberg mugs Jos Verstappen
Rosberg: “Last year, you said Horner needs to go.”
Jos: “That was one and a half years ago. It’s different. I have nothing to say. It’s fine.”
Rosberg: “Now you’re quiet?”
Jos: “I’m always quiet,” he responded smiling ironically as the Dutch ex-F1 driver is well known for being most vocal with his opinions.
Verstappen’s reply is interesting in that he seeks to distance himself from the comments he made last season. By suggesting times are different from back then, the impression given is Jos was even surprised at the news of Horner’s summary dismissal.
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Jos distances himself from Horner sacking
Martin Brundle quickly ended the exchange by changing the subject to the up coming race, but the spikes moment between Rosberg and Verstappen Snr was to go viral o social media. Speaking on this weeks Sky F1 podcast, Rosberg acknowledged his interview with Jos had spiced up the Sky F1 pre-show.
“First of all, it’s nice to see that people appreciated our entertainment,” he said, “which is what it’s all about, isn’t it? The whole sport, that’s what it’s built on. Against popular paddock thinking the 2016 F1 champion went on to reveal he believed the Verstappens had little to do with Horner’s sacking.
“I don’t think it was the Verstappen camp being involved there in the Horner exit. It just feels like, to me, that Red Bull came to the conclusion that under Horner, too many talents were leaving the team, too many of the key talents. And it seemed to be that you had this negative spiral that was kicking off at Red Bull in the last one and a half years.
“And that’s why the time had just come for a new era, I think, for Red Bull to reset, take more control and reset and rebuild again. And I think that’s just a decision that they made.”
Consequence of Red Bull dismissal
Veteran pit lane reporter, Ted Kravitz believes the reshaping of Red Bull and the culture change coming will make life difficult for the team who may well become “less incisive” and “less effective.” And it could be the alleged brain drain suffered under Horner will become a mass exodus as a significant number loyalists within Milton Keynes have circulated the CV’s to other teams.
Dr. Helmut Marko also illuminated the reasoning behind Horner’s dismissal in Belgium, when speaking to Sky Germany he revealed: “The decision was made by Oliver Mintzlaff,” said Marko, Mintzlaff being the CEO which oversaw the Red Bull F1 project. “We informed Christian Horner of this on Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race, at the same time officially thanking him for these 20 years and for these eight World Championship titles.”
The 82 year old Austrian is counting only the driver’s titles won over Horner’s twenty year tenure, in addition there were six constructor titles too making the total championships fourteen in number.
“This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn’t quite as good as it could have been. Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be significantly reduced, with the main focus being on racing,” Marko concluded.
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Two F1 team ownership debate set to reignite
Ironically, the sacking of Horner may well force the energy company to sell on of its F1 teams as the topic of the A-B two team ownership has once again raised its head. As part of the larger Red Bull organisation, Laurent Mekies was able to move into Horner’s role immediately with no garden leave to serve.
This would be impossible elsewhere on the grid, given each of the teams would bind their team principal with longer term contracts and restrictions on the timing of their leaving, but by owing two F1 teams gave Red Bull yet another advantage.
Whilst accepting the historical nature whereby Red Bull became owners of two F1 teams, Zak Brown has been vocal stating that times have changed and has called on the FIA to outlaw this practice come the time of the negotiations surrounding the 2030 Concorde Agreement.
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