.
That article is behind a paywall.
https://archive.is/toyw0#selection-503.0-527.349
Some quotes translated:
IMOLA - The rumour mill in Formula 1 is running at full speed as usual. Now it is Red Bull team boss Christian Horner who is once again the centre of attention, because his future is said to be at stake. But how much of that is true? The fact is that the pressure on his team is high in the coming weeks.
First a report in a magazine in Italy, followed by an update from the Austrian news channel OE24. Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner could be relieved of his duties by the energy drinks company's top management after the upcoming race in Imola, if the team is not competitive during the first European race of the season on Sunday. It is, after all, Red Bull's 400th race in Formula 1.
Red Bull has sunk far
Insiders claim to this newspaper that there is no question of Horner (51), the team boss since the very beginning, being dismissed. And the two names that are already circulating as possible successors are not being taken seriously at all. Oliver Oakes recently resigned from Alpine due to personal problems, after his younger brother (and co-director of his racing team Hitech) was arrested with a large sum of cash in his pocket and charged. Since then, Oakes himself has been in Dubai. And the other ex-team boss who is mentioned as a candidate, Franz Tost, was sent away from Red Bull's sister team Racing Bulls two years ago. Although the now 79-year-old Austrian himself has always indicated that he resigned of his own accord.
That the pressure on Horner, from outside but also internally, is increasing is not so surprising, apart from the rumours of the past week. Red Bull was still unbeatable in 2023, but has sunk considerably after a promising start to the previous season. It was largely thanks to Max Verstappen that the drivers' title was still secured.
After six races, the Dutchman is now 32 points behind World Championship leader Oscar Piastri of the dominant McLaren. In warm Miami, the difference between the two teams became painfully clear earlier this month.
Will team Max Verstappen indeed receive a huge package of updates?
Red Bull must show improvement in the coming weeks. Otherwise, at some point the – equally painful – conclusion can be drawn that the focus should be set on 2026. Here and there, it is still thought that Red Bull will come up with a huge package of updates (new parts) during the first European race in Imola and will thus make a great catch-up.
However, that narrative has been firmly refuted for weeks. Some innovations were already introduced in Jeddah, in Miami Verstappen got a new floor under his RB21 and from next weekend teammate Yuki Tsunoda will also be able to use it. Red Bull wants to make progress step by step, but the question is whether that is not much too late.
In Imola, Verstappen will once again ‘receive’ several small updates, but it is not expected that these will suddenly yield tenths of a second. Given Red Bull’s decline in the past twelve months and the team’s inconsistency, some realism or pessimism is appropriate. Apart from the fact that the narrow Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is normally not made for the RB21, because a driver has to take a lot of kerbstones and that has been a worry child for the team for years.
What is in the pipeline at Red Bull?
A week later, the famous race in Monaco follows, another circuit that makes Verstappen’s car tremble. Another weekend later, Red Bull has planned another update package in Barcelona. That is also the race in which the FIA will be checking more strictly on the use of flexible front wings, which McLaren in particular is accused of. Although that team says – of course – that it is not at all worried about that rule change.
Max Verstappen congratulates World Championship leader Oscar Piastri in Saudi Arabia on the victory.
In short; in the coming European races it must become clear where Red Bull stands and whether it can still offer Verstappen the material to make a bid for his fifth world title. Starting in Imola. If not, the unrest surrounding the team and its Dutch leader and his future will probably only increase again.
