Red Bull Racing staff reportedly left furious at Helmut Marko and Oliver Mintzlaff post Christian Horner sacking

Red Bull sacked Christian Horner a few weeks ago, and the Briton had close ties with a host of people in Milton Keynes who were reportedly left dejected after his departure. A report has now also claimed that some of the staff were further upset by some of the comments by Helmut Marko and Red Bull GmbH Managing Director Oliver Mintzlaff during their address to the team.

In 2005, Horner was handed the keys to the Milton Keynes-based squad to lead them in the F1 sphere while being the youngest team principal on the grid back then. The Briton fulfilled his role in the following years as the team had two successful stints, once with Sebastian Vettel, and then with Max Verstappen.

After two decades at the helm, Horner was sacked by Red Bull earlier this month in a move that came as a surprise to many.

The team's decision to part ways with Horner reportedly left many upset. A report from The Sun is now claiming that some of Marko's comments did not go down well with the members of the staff during a meeting at the team's headquarters. One Red Bull staff member is said to have told the tabloid:

"It was only a day after Christian was sacked and a lot of the team were still upset when Mr Marko addressed us. But he just made a joke of it and told us to cheer up. He said, ‘You need to smile more’. It didn’t endear him to anyone as what is there to smile about?”

Moreover, another member of the team is said to have claimed that Mintzlaff's first address to the staff did not go down too well either.

"If you have any problems, just text your line manager’. Oh, and if you don’t have a line manager any more, just text me!’ and started laughing," Mintzlaff is said to have told the staff, as per the report.

Without Christian Horner at the helm of the team, Red Bull faces an era of transition as the future of Max Verstappen also remains uncertain.

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Honda rejected claims of possible Red Bull return

Max Verstappen climbing out of the Red Bull RB21 after the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix- Source: Getty

Honda has powered Red Bull F1 cars since 2019, but this relationship is bound to end after the conclusion of the 2025 season. The Milton Keynes-based squad would then transform into a works team, but has no prior experience of building its engines.

If worse comes to worst, some have claimed that Honda might have enough capacity to supply the Austrian giant as a backup, owing to the Japanese engine maker only providing engines to Aston Martin for the 2026 season.

However, Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe rubbished those claims as he told as-web.jp (via RacingNews 365):

"That's not possible at all. Even if they asked us now, we wouldn't be able to meet the 2026 deadline. There is no way... We have already received requests for the layout [of the power unit] and a group is working with Aston Martin on that."

The Austrian squad sits fourth in the interim constructors' standings, despite scoring two race wins at the hands of Max Verstappen.