Christian Horner was axed without warning by Red Bull last week, just days after the British Grand Prix where his friend Jeremy Clarkson had spoken to him at Silverstone

Christian Horner spent large parts of his last 18 months at Red Bull clinging onto his job. He took public criticism from Max Verstappen 's dad, Jos. He faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague, which he was later cleared of. And he was central in rumblings of friction between key figures at the top of the F1 team.