A major overhaul of Red Bull’s management team led to the appointment of Christian Horner (main image) According to Oliver Mintzlaff, Helmut Marko leaving the team this year is not a risk for the future.
Horner was sacked as F1 team principal and CEO in July, and Marko’s departure was confirmed after the final race of the season. The pair have been involved since Red Bull first entered F1 20 years ago, but Mintzlaff, CEO of corporate projects and new investments at Red Bull GmbH, said a change at the top was needed.
Mintzlaff told De Telegraaf: “I wouldn’t say it was a risk[to fire Horner]because we supported this measure 100%.” “I knew I had to do something. I’m not what you’d call a hiring and firing manager, I’m not the kind of person who fires people like that.”
“Christian has had a great track record with the team and has had a lot of success. Everyone here, myself included, appreciates his accomplishments. But that’s part of being a professional organization. We can’t continue to rely on history, and we felt it was time to turn the page and start a new chapter. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it wasn’t rushed either.”
Mintzlaff, who rarely speaks publicly about the F1 team, distanced himself from comments attributed to Marko in another Dutch publication, De Limburger, which claimed that “Horner was lying about all sorts of things”, but said the end of this spell of financial stability should not be seen as a negative.
“Helmut is responsible for those words about Christians,” he said. “I can’t say anything negative about Christian because he means a lot to Red Bull, but there will always come a time when things don’t go well and then we have to make a decision as a company.
“Are we going to give someone more time or is it time for a new leader? We felt it was time for a change. Christian and Helmut have worked together great for many years since our start in 2005, so we are talking about more than 20 years.”
“Take some examples from other big sports organizations. The coaching teams have stayed the same for so long that you could look at both of them being gone as a very negative thing. But I would say it’s unique that they’ve been here together for so long and accomplished so much. Sometimes change is necessary to shake things up.”
