Bernie Ecclestone has twisted the knife into Christian Horner with a brutal dressing-down following his dramatic Red Bull axe. Earlier this week, the 51-year-old was relieved of his duties in a move which sent shockwaves around the sporting world. There had been uncertainty around Horner’s future for a while but the bombshell news of his exit came as a surprise to many.
He was F1’s longest-reigning team principal, having been with Red Bull for two decades. They won the Constructors’ Championship on six occasions during Horner’s time in charge, while they also managed eight Drivers’ Championship titles with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen winning four each.
The news of Horner’s exit came nearly 18 months after he was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by a female employee. Alleged messages sent by the team principal were leaked to the media and team members in the paddock.
Horner, who denied the accusations, was subject to an internal investigation and was twice cleared of any wrongdoing. Ecclestone, however, believes the excruciating episode should have been avoided.
“This other business that he got involved with 18 months ago, he was just an idiot,” the former F1 supremo told The Telegraph. “He was a 50-year-old who thought he was 20, thought he was one of the boys.”
There were also rumours of an internal power struggle at Red Bull, with a handful of senior figures reportedly wanting Horner to step down.
Max Verstappen’s father Jos was a particularly vocal critic of Horner, claiming the leaked messages saga was driving the team apart and warning there would be tension as long as he stayed.
“It would probably have been better if they had said: ‘Come in, Christian, sit down’, but the bottom line is that there are people there who thought he was getting away with things,” added Ecclestone.
“That he was acting as if it was not the Red Bull Ring, but the Christian Horner Ring. He got away with so many things and all the time you’re delivering, people close their eyes.
“But when you stop delivering, people start looking. One or two begin thinking: ‘Well, I could do a better job’. Genuinely, it was a little bit of a muddle.
“Christian was the chief executive. If I’m the chief executive of a company, I want to be in charge. I want to do all the things that I think are right, and if I’m wrong, they can fire me, they can say: ‘Sorry, bye-bye, you made a few mistakes’.
“So, the minute Christian can’t be in that position to do what he thinks should be done, then for him it’s not easy. You can’t half-manage something. You need to have someone, I always say, to turn the lights on and off. You only really need one person.”
For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express F1 newsletter, or join our WhatsApp community here.
