“Pantomime villain” Christian Horner backed for F1 team owner role after Red Bull exit

F1 commentator Martin Brundle has backed Christian Horner to return to the sport in a team ownership role following his shock Red Bull exit.

During the two-week gap between the British and Belgian Grands Prix, Red Bull announced they had parted ways with Horner.

Horner had been Red Bull boss since the team’s inception in 2005.

The Briton oversaw title success with Sebastian Vettel, and more recently, with Max Verstappen.

However, Horner’s been put under increased pressure over the past year.

Horner was investigated for inappropriate behaviour at the start of 2024.

Red Bull’s on-track form took a hit following the departure of F1 design guru Adrian Newey.

Speaking ahead of FP1 at Spa-Francorchamps, Brundle feels that F1 is in a worse place without Horner.

Brundle described Horner as a “pantomime villain” but suggested he could make an F1 comeback as a team owner.

“He took a failed Jaguar team and of course, with many people around him, has grown it from one building with lots of mezzanines to a complete boulevard, an incredible set-up because F1 has moved on a long way in those 20 years,” Brundle said.

“I can understand how a lot of the team members will feel that Christian hired them. Christian’s management hired and bought them into a team that’s relentlessly won for a number of years. Nothing’s forever. I don’t agree with everything Christian said and done nor him me. We have completely opposite jobs in this paddock.

“We’ve given him a hard time from time to time. We’ve lost a pantomime villain. That’s bad news for F1 because the other villains like Zak and Toto have got nobody to have a go at now. Christian’s a friend of mine and I don’t do fair weather friendships.

“I feel sorry for him. I feel bad for him. I think he will remerge somewhere else in a part ownership role or ownership role.”

Horner will attract interest from rival teams

Horner’s next F1 team move is unclear.

Previously, Horner was heavily linked with a move to Ferrari.

However, Ralf Schumacher has hinted that Frederic Vasseur is set for a contract extension.

Horner could link up with Flavio Briatore at Alpine, particularly as their future in the sport is unclear.

Naomi Schiff gave her view on the Horner situation: “We will have to wait and see what his future holds. If you see the journey the team has been on with him in front of it, how successful they have been.

“He has exactly all the right ingredients to make any other team successful so maybe there will be loads of teams in this paddock potentially looking at how Christian can join their team in the future.

“There’s probably a lot for them to understand with what’s gone on behind closed doors at Red Bull before we might see him back in this paddock. He’s been incredibly successful and sometimes unfortunately with that much success comes a lot of scrutiny.

“People hyper focus on everything you say and do so much more when you are successful. That’s part of the territory of being at the forefront of such a successful team.”