Christian Horner HITS OUT at F1 rival amid Red Bull mass exodus claim

Christian Horner, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi, 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Horner HITS OUT at F1 rival amid Red Bull mass exodus claim

Christian Horner hits back at a F1 rival

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 15 January 2025 17:56

Christian Horner has hit out at one of his F1 rivals amid claims of a mass exodus of Red Bull staff.

The 2024 F1 season saw key Red Bull figures, such as Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, announce their departure to rival teams, with the former Red Bull stalwarts heading to Aston Martin and Sauber respectively.

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Following these high-profile exits, Red Bull’s woes began to materialise on-track as rivals, McLaren and Ferrari, began to consistently outperform the team from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.

Furthermore, McLaren CEO Zak Brown suggested that his team received CVs from Red Bull employees back in May, in an alleged mass exodus from the team.

2024 was a difficult year for Christian Horner

Horner hits out at Russell after Red Bull claims

While Red Bull denied this was the case, Mercedes star George Russell also suggested that Max Verstappen’s attitude at the team added to the CVs being sent to rival teams.

“I’m not questioning his driving abilities one single bit, but the second he does not have the fastest car, let’s take Budapest as an example, he crashes into Lewis, he slams his whole team, and he loses the plot,” Russell said at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2024 following his public feud with Verstappen.

“Straight away after that race, 25 per cent of his engineering team were sending their CVs to Mercedes, to McLaren, to Aston Martin, because they said they can’t deal with a guy like that.”

In response to these comments Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, has launched a scathing rant at Russell’s claims of a mass exodus of his staff.

Christian Horner hits back at George Russell

"I'd be more worried about other issues if I was George," Horner told the media.

"I don't know where he thinks and who he thinks they were offering their services to, but all the key people have made long-term commitments to the company.

"If you look at people like [Gianpiero Lambiase] and the key members of the engineering team, they are all on long-term contracts. One of the less pleasant sides of the business is the lengths that will be gone to try and capitalise on other issues in other teams.”

"I've said it before, but the higher you rise, the sharper the knives.

“And they got pretty sharp at some points during 2024. But when there is so much at stake, other teams will use whatever tools they have to try and destabilise what has been a hugely successful team."

F1 Red Bull Ferrari McLaren Christian Horner Aston Martin