Former F1 reporter surprised by Horner's dismissal: 'Why not sooner?'

11:21, 10 Jul

byTim Kraaij

Why was Christian Horner suddenly dismissed? It remains a question that many people ponder. Jack Plooij was also asked about the departure of the Red Bull team boss on the program De Oranjezomer.

On Wednesday morning, news broke that Christian Horner has been dismissed as CEO and team principal of Red Bull Racing. No reason was given for the sudden dismissal, leaving the outside world guessing.

In the program De Oranjezomer, former pit reporter Jack Plooij was asked if Jos Verstappen was done with Christian Horner: ‘’Yes, for a while now.’’ However, Plooij did not want to say that the Verstappens were the reason for the Red Bull team boss's dismissal.

‘’It could be. It's a bit speculative, of course, what we do differently. But the fact is that Verstappen's management is not happy with how things are going. That has been the case for a while, but it is a bit surprising that it happens today (Wednesday).’’

Why was Horner dismissed?

‘’Because why did it not happen earlier? Because a lot has happened a year ago. There was already tension then. He should have actually left then, in my opinion. He should have done so himself. When a lot of unpleasant things happened. Accusations that were there, but then he was protected by the major shareholder.’’

In 2024, Horner was accused of inappropriate behavior by a former employee of Red Bull Racing. Horner was acquitted twice, but the case is still ongoing. However, Horner was always protected by the Thai major shareholder, Chalerm Yoovidhya, around this issue.

In the past few months, Horner lost the support of the Thai. GPblog learned that Horner had lost some of his power over the winter and was no longer allowed to make decisions about the drivers. After the British Grand Prix, the support for Horner fell away completely, after the updates did not provide enough progress.