In terms of sport, however, things went downhill quickly: After a strong start to the season, Red Bull increasingly lost his supremacy in the premier class of motorsport. McLaren overtook the Austrian team. Verstappen was able to save his lead in the driver’s World Cup and enter the fourth title in a row, but the team of teams was lost.
The crash continued in the current season – and Horner should have cost the backing of his previous supporters from Thailand. Because as the “Bild” newspaper reports, the Horner estate went out from the Austrian side around Mintzlaff, but the Thai owner is said to have been behind the step.
For Formula 1, the Horner refreshment not only means the end of a 20-year era, but also the beginning of a further quake. Because Horner could be soft: weeks ago there were reports that Ferrari was interested in an obligation Horner as the new team boss. Now the Briton would be available for the Italians – and the chair of the previous team leader, Fred Vasseur, could falter.
Because even at Ferrari, expectations are currently underway. After you had fought along until the last race for the last race for the World Cup, Scuderia is currently in second place again, but with 222 points it has not even scored half as many points as the leader McLaren (460). It was also not enough for a victory and especially the record world champion Lewis Hamilton, newly signed for a lot of money, has major problems with the red car.
However, it is questionable whether Horner would be the right man to change that. After all, Hamilton, at that time still in the service of Mercedes, and Horner 2021 fought a bitter World Cup fight with numerous public tips. In addition, Hamilton was one of the loudest voices in the scandal about Horner’s supposedly attacking behavior last year that demanded the Enlightenment. Cooperation between Horner and Hamilton would have a lot of potential for conflict.
However, the situation at Red Bull offers just as much excitement: The previous team boss from the Red Bull Sister team Racing Bulls, Laurent Mekies, is now to take over the fortunes among the Austrians. Until he moved to the Red Bull universe in January 2024, he worked as a sports director of Ferrari. It remains to be seen whether he can also work with Verstappen beyond the season.
In addition, the future of motorsport consultants Marko, supposed winner of the power struggle, remains uncertain. Marko is already 82 years old and his contract expires after the 2026 season. A possible successor, which Marko himself recently brought into play, should also make high waves: Sebastian Vettel. The four -time world champion also expressed that he could imagine a return to his old team in a new function.