Red Bull set to navigate “tough times” after Horner sacking, says Villeneuve ahead of F1 Belgium GP 2025
This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will be the first time in 20 years Red Bull Racing will not be led by Christian Horner, who was sacked two weeks ago following the British Grand Prix.
As the team embarks on the post-Horner era, former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, the team is set for some tough times ahead, having lost its team boss, who was instrumental in all its success.
“It was very sudden, unexpected, but it’s been brewing in the background for quite a while. It is destabilising for the team because Christian ran the factory, so this will have an effect, and it will take a bit of time to rebalance everything,” said Villeneuve.
“It’s been a little bit difficult for the team. Adrian Newey (former technical boss) and some other key team members have left. But Christian Horner brought the team to where it is now. So it’s very tough on him, this situation, and it’s difficult from the outside to understand the reasoning behind the whole situation.”
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Elaborating further on the situation, the Canadian felt that Horner’s sacking would have an impact on the workforce.
“In the short term, yes, they will miss him because he’s the one who’s been running that team for so many years, brought it to a lot of championships and had the respect of the mechanics of all the guys in the office as well. And you work as a unit. So when you cut to the top of the pyramid, it has a big effect and rarely a positive one, unless that person is not good.”
Commenting on this year’s championship, the 1997 drivers’ champion believes McLaren’s Lando Norris, despite trailing his teammate Oscar Piastri by eight points in the drivers’ standings, has built a bit of momentum with wins in the last two races.
“Lando seems to have recovered a bit. He seems to be more emotional than Piastri, but he has a slight edge in speed. So when you take the two into account, it’s hard to know which one has the better shot at winning.”
“There’s a big difference between being the team leader, the championship leader or being the underdog. And you can tell the effect on both drivers. The minute Piastri became the championship leader, it had an impact on him that didn’t look super positive. Therefore, it has a significant psychological effect on drivers. Lando seems to be better when he’s a little bit behind and has to fight back to come forward. So he is in a good position right now,” said Villeneuve.
(FanCode is the official broadcaster for F1 in India)