Christian Horner has lately narrated how he was sacked because the Workforce Principal and CEO of the Purple Bull System 1 staff.
Horner was relieved of his duties on the helm of the Milton Keynes-based outfit in July final yr – after main the staff to 20 years of success.
The Briton’s dismissal got here as a pure end result of the steep decline the staff had been in since 2024 and allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ levelled in opposition to him, or so it appeared.
However in an interview with The Athletic, Horner revealed that his ousting got here out of the blue and was frankly too ‘abrupt’.
Horner had been referred to as into London on the pretext of discussions on advertising. As an alternative, Purple Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, Helmut Marko, and Purple Bull’s head of HR saved the press launch of his departure in entrance of him, he claimed.
“I didn’t have the inkling it was going to be handled so abruptly,” he mentioned.
“It was solely once I actually pushed to say, ‘Properly then there must be a motive’ that I used to be given ‘It’s extra Christian Horner Racing than Purple Bull Racing’.”
Christian Horner units benchmark for F1 return
Since his departure, Horner has been linked to a bevvy of groups. He was within the working to accumulate a minority stake in Alpine earlier than Mercedes and Toto Wolff seemingly blocked the transfer.
Lately, the Briton had revealed that Ferrari could be the one staff the place he would think about becoming a member of with out a proposal of fairness.
Horner has additionally been linked to Chinese language EV giants BYD – with recommendations of the Briton masterminding their debut onto the F1 grid.
However the former Purple Bull boss has made it clear that his return to the game must be backed by some fairly compelling causes.
“I’m undecided I do, in all honesty,” Horner admitted when requested what would encourage him to convey himself again to the paddock.
“For me, it must be a very thrilling mission. It wouldn’t simply be for something.”
Horner’s telling memoir ‘Drive’ launched within the UK final month with a world launch scheduled for early 2027.
READ MORE – Adrian Newey responds to Christian Horner ‘abandon ship’ feedback