Formula 1 News: Sources dismiss rumors of Christian Horner axe

(GMM) Rumors that Imola could be Christian Horner’s final Formula 1 race in charge of Red Bull Racing are falling apart.

The scandal and leadership turmoil that rocked Horner and the team’s 2024 season has largely subsided, but it did result in the departure of high-profile names like Adrian Newey and arguably the current car performance issues.

Suddenly, however, Osterreich newspaper – which often features exclusive interviews with team advisor Dr Helmut Marko – reported explosive news that Horner is set to depart after this weekend’s race at Imola.

But a British newspaper this week cited a Red Bull source as denying the rumor.

Bild, the largest newspaper in Germany, agrees. “Bild cannot confirmation this information,” it declared whilst reporting the speculation about Horner’s imminent demise.

The newspaper said Red Bull co-CEO Oliver Mintzlaff is “dissatisfied” with the current situation, but “still believes in the current leadership”.

Indeed, in a recent interview at the Saudi Arabian GP, Mintzlaff said: “I have complete confidence in every single employee. This also applies to our management team.

“Helmut and Christian both want maximum success and will subordinate everything to that.”

The Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung agrees that Horner apparently has “absolutely no reason to fear for his job – quite the opposite”.

The report continued: “The 51-year-old team boss has been working on his rise within the Red Bull company for some time. There were already rumors last year that Horner might be promoted to management.”

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland that he can “hardly imagine” that Imola will be Horner’s last race in charge of Red Bull.

“I had not heard anything about it myself,” he said.

The German actually thinks Pierre Wache, the team’s technical director, should be the one most worried about his job. “He clearly can’t be trusted to get the car right,” Schumacher said.

He says Horner should not be blamed for the high-profile staff exodus at Red Bull, including Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Will Courtenay, and others.

“There was always going to be a time when people would leave for other teams,” said Schumacher. “That was also the case at Mercedes.

“No matter what happened, he would not have been able to keep everyone.”

Schumacher notes, however, that Horner is still fire-fighting significant problems at Red Bull, including performance and internal “unrest”.

“That’s true,” said the 6-time grand prix winner. “But who could replace Horner tomorrow? It’s not so easy.

“With his experience, Franz Tost could take on a transition period, or even for a year or two. But Franz is not the future, just because of his age,” said Schumacher.

Bild newspaper says the major element of Red Bull’s car upgrade for Imola is a new front wing. “If the results don’t start coming now,” he predicts, “the sponsors and the shareholders will start to get nervous at some point.”