Former Red Bull driver backs Christian Horner to make a return to F1

Former Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly feels that Christian Horner's return to F1 is almost inevitable, as the man's career has seen a lot of success. In a move that shocked the paddock, the Austrian team announced recently that Horner was sacked with immediate effect.

The move was a surprise for many, as Christian Horner had been a part of the team since its inception. He was the first person to have been selected and hired by Helmut Marko and Dietrich Mateschitz to take over in 2005. The team was looked at as an outsider, as it was essentially a team of a drinks company.

Under Horner, Red Bull did have tremendous success, as the team won 14 titles in twenty years. The last 18 months were not the best within the team, as there were some political tensions that surfaced, and to add to it, the car performance took a step back.

While Red Bull did win the title with Max Verstappen last season, it looks like an outside contender this season, and it seems that was enough of a trigger to get rid of Christian Horner. Talking to the media, including Crash.net, Pierre Gasly praised Horner for the job that he'd done and expected him to be back in the paddock with one of the teams. He said,

"I think his qualities are undoubtable because when you've got the number of championships in 20 years of career. You can only respect all the success with the team, and what he's done with Red Bull Racing over there, it's very remarkable and very impressive."

He added,

"He is very, very good at what he's been doing with the team. I'm sure we're gonna see him somewhere because with that sort of experience and skills, I'm sure some teams will be interested in Christian."

Gasly reveals he was closer to Marko than Horner at Red Bull

Pierre Gasly revealed that for him the bigger contact and the relationship was with Helmut Marko because he was the one who managed the Red Bull academy at the time. Gasly was promoted to the senior team in 2019 alongside Max Verstappen but would lose favour within half a season and be replaced by Alex Albon. Talking about his relationship with Horner, the driver revealed,

“I was closer to Helmut [Marko] just from the fact that it's more the link between the drivers. Helmut came to coach me when I was 17. I signed a contract with him. I got to know Christian a bit later through the process and being part of the academy side. Less contact with him, but still some and for sure he has been doing very well with Red Bull.”

It is interesting to see where Christian Horner goes because one of the teams where he could potentially see a return is Alpine, and at the moment, Pierre Gasly is one of the drivers.