Christian Horner and Max Verstappen talk on the grid planetF1

Brundle sees Verstappen camp's hand at play: 'Jos threw grenades at Horner'

14:04, 25 Jul

byNorberto Mujica

Former F1 driver, Martin Brundle, in his current position as Sky Sports F1 analyst has spoken out about Christian Horner's dismissal, and he sees the Verstappen camp's role as key in the change at the top of the Austrian team.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Brundle has spoken to Horner, Jos Verstappen and has asked Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff and chief advisor Helmut Marko for comments on the British team boss' departure from the Austrian team.

For the analyst the situation is clear. "It was a decision from Austria, it wasn't the Verstappen's asking for this."

"I mean, Jos Verstappen has thrown a lot of hand grenades in in the past 16 months, some of them gone off. He made it clear he thought that Christian should move on from time to time," the former F1 driver added.

'Management in Austria wanted Horner gone'

Brundle lifts responsibility off of the Verstappen camp's shoulders, and looks to Austria as the origin point of the decision.

"But it wasn't about the Verstappen's. It was the management in Austria wanting to take back control of some of the commercial side of it."

"Christian didn't want to let that go because he felt in the round, the drivers, the cost cap, the sponsors, the employment of people was all one big story that he wanted to keep hold of. And so they made that decision," the Briton added.

Max Verstappen finished P2 in FP1 at Spa

Verstappen could have stopped it, but 'it's all about the can'

Verstappen commands respect at Red Bull as the bringer of so much success to the Red Bull Racing team, but was the Dutch world champion's power enough to save Horner from the axe?

"I mean, presumably Max could have, if he'd have wanted to, stop it from happening, but he either chose not to or couldn't. I'm going to assume he chose not to stop Christian being let go. So they are where they find themselves today," the British analyst continued.

"They have an expression, it's all about the can, and they felt that they want to do something with Red Bull going forward. Maybe it was a bit too much about Christian and not enough about Red Bull."

"I'll wait to see what they say about that. So there are any number of factors, but I'd imagine Christian sitting at home watching this first time, not in the paddock for 20 years, feeling pretty sad about it," Brundle concluded.