The last week of news has been relentless for Red Bull. The team confirmed the departure of Adrian Newey, as well as the shocking news that he would be able to sign with another team immediately, before heading to America for the Miami Grand Prix. Then Max Verstappen placed second in an upset, with McLaren’s Lando Norris earning his first career F1 victory. Now, Christian Horner is fending off the vultures.
On Friday, McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown spoke to reporters and suggested Newey may not be the last to leave Red Bull in the wake of the Horner sexual misconduct scandal from earlier this year. Per Motorsport.com, Brown said he was “not surprised” to hear of Newey’s departure and more might follow in his footsteps.
“Am I surprised? Six months ago, I would have been surprised,” Brown said. “But given everything that’s gone on since the start of the year and knowing Adrian pretty well, and he’s a very high-integrity individual, I’m not surprised he’s moving on.
“I think the stuff that’s going on there is a bit destabilizing. That’s probably the first domino to fall, my guess is not the last based on the résumés that are flying around.”
Brown went on to clarify that he meant what he said about the resumes and that his team has seen a noticeable uptick in applications to work for McLaren with all that’s going on at Red Bull.
On Tuesday, Red Bull boss Horner finally got wind of the comments and responded that he is not very worried about it at all.
“I don’t have any concern of the strength in depth. Of course, there is always going to be movement between teams,” Horner said. “I don’t know how many people we or have employed from McLaren this year. We have taken 220 people out of HPP into Red Bull Powertrains. So, when we are talking about losing people, I would be a bit more worried about the 220 than maybe one or two CVs.”
He went on to note that it was “inevitable” for Brown and Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, to get involved. Horner said they “talk a lot” but he wouldn’t get drawn into a back-and-forth.
The entire exchange does sound a lot like the captain insisting that, no, the water you see does not mean the boat is sinking and everything is fine. But there is not much else Horner can say. If he’s to remain at the top of Red Bull he must project confidence that everything is going his way, even when it clearly is not. That’s the job.
A win at the Miami Grand Prix would’ve put a lot of minds at ease. But with Verstappen finishing as the runner-up, Red Bull have a lot to think about before the Emilia-Romagna Grand at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.
