On an emergency episode of ‘The Fast and Curious’ podcast, Will Buxton shared his thoughts on the shocking exit of Christian Horner from Red Bull. The news hit while Buxton was working in America with the IndyCar series, waking him up around 5 A.M. local time.
“Wild in terms of the impact and magnitude of it,” he said about Horner’s sudden departure.
Yet Buxton wasn’t completely surprised.
“Yet not wild when you think of the last 18 months, and I think for a lot of people, there would be the question of why this hasn’t happened sooner.”
The rumors about Horner being pushed out had been swirling for months.
Team discord has been bubbling since the start of the 2024 season—or even longer when you look at some driver performances.
“Probably a lack of surprise that it has happened at all. The big shock is Christian, for the longest time, has been Red Bull. He’s the only team principal that team has ever known,” Buxton admitted.
Horner’s connection to the team runs deep. He’s been the face of Red Bull Racing since they entered Formula 1 in 2005—a full 20 years at the helm.
“He has led them through the good times, through the bad times for 20 years. So it has to be more than a simple drop-off in performance. They’ve been there before, they’ve been through this before.”
The team is no stranger to challenging periods. From 2014 until 2020, they went through a championship drought before Max Verstappen claimed his first title in 2021.
That’s why Buxton believes Horner’s firing can’t just be about poor racing results.
“So there must be more, and there is more at play here. And I think that’s obvious to everyone.”
