Red Bull staff told to 'smile more' as employees reveal all after shock Christian Horner sacking
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The Milton Keynes team has been rocked by the changes at the top
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Staff left in tears at the shock sacking of team principal and CEO of Red Bull, Christian Horner, were told to “smile more” staff working in the Milton Keynes factory have revealed.
Red Bull shocked the F1 community when they decided to axe Horner from his operational duties mid-season following the British Grand Prix.
The 51-year-old had been at the helm in Milton Keynes since 2005 when the team bought Jaguar for just £1. For many of the workers at the factory, there has not been a time without Horner leading the team.
He led the team to eight drivers’ championships and six constructors' championships in that time and has nurtured some of the most talented prospects in Formula 1.
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|Helmut Marko made jokes to Red Bull staff after Christian Horner's sacking
He led the team to eight drivers’ championships and six constructors' championships in that time and has nurtured some of the most talented prospects in Formula 1.
Now, staff within the Red Bull team have revealed that Helmut Marko made the distasteful comment to staff members the day after Horner’s removal, with many employees threatening to quit.
One said: “It was only a day after Christian was sacked and a lot of the team were still upset when Mr Marko addressed us.
“But he just made a joke of it and told us to cheer up — he said, ‘You need to smile more’.
“It didn’t endear him to anyone as what is there to smile about?”
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Horner’s roles as CEO and team principal were given to Marko as they looked for a replacement.
They quickly named Laurent Mekies as Horner’s replacement, but that didn’t stop the 82-year-old Austrian from leaving a bad taste in the mouth of staff.
Insiders revealed to The Sun that after the sacking of Horner, Marko and Oliver Mintzlaff tried to address the Milton Keynes team. However, it was described as a “car crash”.
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Minzlaff then further angered staff by making jokes about the brutal axing of several senior staff.
“Mintzlaff also said, ‘If you have any problems, just text your line manager’," an insider told The Sun.
“Then he added, ‘Oh, and if you don’t have a line manager any more, just text me!’ and started laughing.”
Horner was not the only staff member to face the axe on July 9. Chief marketing officer Oliver Hughes and director of communications Paul Smith were put on gardening leave alongside Horner.
Horner had been completely blindsided by the sacking and felt very “betrayed” by the incident, a close family friend admitted.
They said: “Christian told me how hurt and betrayed he felt after all that he and Geri and their family have been through over the past 18 months.
"He was cleared twice over the texting scandal but is now on gardening leave and has still been given no explanation why he’s lost the job he loved.
“Red Bull’s Austrian bosses have always resented the fact that so much of their F1 success was down to a team that Christian built in Britain. That is what lies behind this — as well as the hangover from the terrible headlines last year.
Christian Horner has been left completely betrayed by the actions of Red Bull
“Christian was called to a London meeting and had no idea what it was about. He was just told, ‘You have to be there,’ and was dumbfounded when he was ushered into a room and effectively sacked on the spot. It left him totally blindsided — he thought he’d been called in to speak about another issue.
“But the staff are nearly all Brits and are fiercely loyal to him, and are now talking about walking out. It was a targeted attack for control of the race team because Red Bull’s Austrian HQ didn’t like a British man running their race team.”
The team appears to be at an all-time low when it comes to morale, another issue for Red Bull to deal with, on top of an already bad season for the team.
The team will not have long to deal with the issues facing the team as they get set to return to the track this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix, one of reigning world champion Max Verstappen’s home races, with many Dutch fans making the short journey to see their hero.
They will be hoping for a much-improved second half of the season under new team principal Laurent Mekies.