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.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has suggested Red Bull needs to do more to deliver Max Verstappen a car worthy of his talent.