Today has been an interesting day at the factory, here in Faenza 
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POV : You work at Faenza
I quite like Mekies, I hope he can help right the ship over at Red Bull.
Not a lot of good precedent this year for moving from Racing Bulls to Red Bull…
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Curious at to what Horner will do. Join another team? Maybe help turn around another under performing team? Maybe work backstage at a Spice Girls reunion tour?
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is the subtext Verstappen?
That is very interesting. Watch them both go to Aston…
I suspect we’ll never know the real reasons, but the way this has been handled is odd. He was heavily involved in the engine program, so this is a big deal in terms of moving him on. Why would they not just give him the year and allow him to ‘resign’ himself and ensure engine stays on track. He was literally told yesterday and said his goodbyes today. He texted Brundle that he wasn’t given a reason.
My best un expert guest ist that max or jos gave the team an ultimatum. We know Toto has been talking with max, we know Jos hates Horner, and max is on the fringe of the top 4. I can see no other reason for him to leave immediately.
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That would make sense if CH’s presence within the team was impeding the immediate recruitment of some top engineers to replace Marshal, Wheatley, and Newey. There’s a real chance RBR could be behind on chassis and engine next year, and that means for many years beyond, so they need to bring some new people in. The only caveat being the new wind tunnel, but that’s a stretch.
Probably will never know, and I am armchairng as well.
I’d be very surprised at this point if Max doesn’t leave. Where would you advise him to go if the choice was between Aston, Merc, or staying at Red Bull? Peter Windsor says he should go to Aston because of Newey, but I just don’t see a winning culture there. I’d advise him to go to Mercedes. Is there any reason to stay at Red Bull?
I don’t understand this exit clause based on his position, as it seems like F1 contracts are fake anyway and can be broken for any number of reasons.
I think he stays at Red Bull with Horner gone. If he goes anywhere I would suggest Aston with Newey and unlimited budget there.
Or he could take a break and run endurance races with his own team as Franz Hermann.
My guess is that Max is leaving, Horner had to announce it to the board, board sacked him.
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Max calmness is surprising to me, I think Horner was going to be fired but perhaps at the end of the year, but the Ferrari and Alpine connections, and Jos probably was the strike that made it immediate. I think Max should move to Aston Martin, it would add another team to the top 3-4 teams to make a run at the championship next year.
@Vash_Stampede I agree with you that it would be more exciting if he went to Aston.
Edit: a little fuel for the rumors
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1lwegqn/piquet_jr_on_brazilian_podcast_discussing/
Not crazy about the 2026 cars. With the 50/50 power mix tracks like Azerbaijan will really be horrible with the long “straight”.
Wrong direction F1.
Wrong direction on the PU’s I agree, right direction on the size of the car.
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Agree with both points. The power unit has the potential to have some real embarrassing problems. But yeah smaller cars feels like a good move.
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All these contact clause based on performance is nuts to me. You should stick with your team and ride it out. During the ground effect startup, imagine Lewis jumped ship because MB didn’t have the car right at that moment. RB is having the same thing with his car now. IMHO.
Can we just celebrate Ferrari and them having a new design philosophy each year only for the 2022 car to be the best they had under those regs ?
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