“The team is already so established that it will continue,” said the Vorarlberg native at a ServusTV event in Vienna. “The question is, should he really have to step down as team boss, who do you take?” Horner is at the center of an internal investigation. It should be clarified whether he behaved inappropriately towards an employee. Klien drove in the premier class for Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006, and Horner was already the team boss back then. “Christian is an incredibly big part of the team and helped build it from the ground up, as we know. But he is also a cogwheel, I would say,” explained Klien. The racing team would therefore not be in turmoil if Horner had to leave.
The rumor mill is bubbling
In any case, the Austrian team based in Great Britain would be under pressure if they would have to entrust and present another person as team leader within a short period of time. There are a few options available in the short term. “Otmar (Szafnauer/Anm.) you can have it immediately, a Günther (Steiner) would do it immediately,” said Klien, mentioning two of the names that are already being traded on the rumor exchange. “But I believe that Red Bull is more of a team of the type that pulls you up from its own ranks.”
The Austrian led Jonathan Wheatley in this regard. The experienced Brit is apparently so important in his current role as sports director that they would be reluctant to move him away from there, according to those close to Red Bull.
“I don’t think a man can do that anymore”
Klien is fundamentally in favor of a division of tasks, as is the case with the RB team with Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies or with McLaren with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella. In this model, one side is primarily responsible for the technical aspects, the other for business and external representation. “I think that’s the ideal now. Because the teams have become so big with over 1,000 or 1,500 employees. I don’t think one man can do that anymore.”
Horner has led Red Bull since the energy drink producer entered Formula 1 in 2005. The racing team has won seven drivers’ world championship titles and six in the constructors’ championship during this period. “There is a process of which I am a part,” said the Briton on Thursday on the sidelines of the test drives in Sakhir regarding his current situation. “I really can’t comment on the procedure or the time frame. Of course everyone would like a result as quickly as possible.”
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