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Ted Kravitz has made a list of what Christian Horner got right before he lost his job as Red Bull team principal, including Adrian Newey’s limitations.
Horner recruited Newey to design Red Bull’s F1 cars in 2006 and they worked together for 18 years, helping the team win eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships.
Despite that success, their relationship suffered in the years leading up to Newey’s 2024 resignation. The engineer moved to Aston Martin, where he was surprisingly appointed team principal ahead of the 2026 season.
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Ted Kravitz gives credit to Christian Horner over Adrian Newey stance
Speaking on Ted’s Notebook after Canadian Grand Prix qualifying, Kravitz said Horner always knew that Newey needed a ‘controlling figure’.
Newey has always worked alongside a team principal rather than running the operation himself, but he became involved in a power struggle with Aston’s former boss Andy Cowell. Lawrence Stroll sided with him and reassigned Cowell to the role of chief strategy officer instead.
Aston Martin have been a team in crisis this year, racking up DNFs while failing to escape Q1 or challenge for points. Stroll is already believed to be looking for a new leader, which would allow Newey to return to a more traditional role.
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Elsewhere, Horner warned that the 2026 regulations would create ‘Frankenstein’ cars, and F1 bosses were forced to make changes within weeks of the season starting.
He was also right to have faith in Red Bull Powertrains, who are the closest challengers to Mercedes in their debut season, while former suppliers Honda lag well behind at Aston Martin.
However, flaws with the Red Bull chassis are holding them back and may be contributing to the uncertainty over Max Verstappen’s future. Arvid Lindblad has made an excellent start to his rookie season at Racing Bulls but is unlikely to be seen as a direct replacement at this stage.
Kravitz said: “I’ve written them down in my notebook earlier on in the weekend: things that Christian Horner was proved right about. There were seven things.
“One, these rules. Earlier on, he was somewhat of a canary in the coal mine about the rules and how the superclipping and megajoules and all that needed looking at before the start of the year.
“Secondly, he was right that Red Bull Powertrains and Ford would be good.
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“Thirdly, if you give Max a good car, he’ll stay. We’ll see if that turns out to be true.
“Fourthly, Arvid Lindblad is ready and good enough now.
“Fifth, Honda would struggle this year.
“Sixth, Adrian Newey as a team principal needs a controlling figure to help him. That turned out to be absolutely true.
“And seventh, Helmut Marko.”
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