Christian Horner makes explosive Adrian Newey claim: “I couldn’t rely on him”
Christian Horner has taken aim at former Red Bull ally Adrian Newey.
Christian Horner has blasted his former Red Bull Formula 1 colleague and friend Adrian Newey with an explosive new claim.
Horner worked alongside Newey, widely regarded as F1’s greatest ever car designer, at Red Bull for two decades. The pair became close allies and remain friends, with Newey acting as an usher at his wedding to Geri and being the godfather to Horner’s 12-year-old daughter.
In Horner’s new book Drive , which is published on 22 October in the UK, the former Red Bull team principal is critical of Newey’s management and even accuses him of disloyalty.
According to Horner, Newey - now the Aston Martin team principal - did not have his back as Red Bull’s performance declined, ultimately leading to the 52-year-old’s sacking after last year’s British Grand Prix.
“I had his back and believed that he had mine. But at the first sign of adversity, Adrian wanted to abandon ship,” Horner says, as per an interview with The Times.
“I felt very sad about that … I couldn’t rely on him any more. Our partnership was not as solid as I’d previously believed.”
Horner also claims he was never offered a proper explanation by Red Bull for his sacking. Red Bull’s decision to fire Horner came 17 months after he was accused of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour by a female employee. Horner was twice cleared of the claims.
“I was never given a clear explanation other than that they felt [the team’s] performance had slipped a little,” said Horner, whose dismissal coincided with a dramatic downturn in form from Red Bull.
“Even though at the [previous] race we’d been on pole position and leading the British Grand Prix; had it not been for the weather, we’d probably have won it. And that they wanted to go in a different direction.
"When I really pushed - I had six years left on my contract - I was told that it was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing.”
In the same interview, Horner admitted a “dream” role at Ferrari is the only F1 job that could tempt him back onto the pitwall without an ownership stake.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
