Christian Horner has hit back following claims that Adrian Newey's departure from Red Bull is leading to an exodus of talent from the Austrian team.

Speaking in Miami, McLaren boss, Zak Brown suggested Newey's departure was the beginning of the end for the Austrian team, claiming the British design guru to be the first domino to fall.

"The stuff that's going on there is a bit destabilising," he said. "It's probably the first domino to fall... my guess is not the last based on the resumes that are flying around."

Asked to expand on the comment, he added: "We've seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team. I think Adrian is the most successful designer of all time. So in addition to the technical that he brings to the racing team, people want to work for people like Adrian Newey and work alongside him. So I think they will be missing what he brings to the team from a pure technical point of view. And then I think the leadership and the excitement people get from working with him will be missed."

Toto Wolff has also claimed that there will be further departures from Red Bull, the Austrian, who is keen to get his hands on Max Verstappen should the three-time world champion be one of those dominos, claiming that his team has "seen Red Bull CVs through all of the levels".

Speaking in the aftermath of Sunday's race, Christian Horner played down the speculation, insisting that there will always be movement between teams.

However, the Briton had a sting in the tail... "I don't know how many people we've employed from McLaren this year or how many people VCARB have employed from Mercedes," he said.

"But we've taken 220 people, 220 out of HPP (Mercedes' powertrains division) into Red Bull Powertrains, so when we're talking of losing people, I'd be a bit more worried about the 220 than maybe one or two CVs."

Ouch.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Bill Hopgood, 08/05/2024 19:34

"Touche, Mr Horner.
It isn't the number of CV's (Resume) flying around that is the point, however the calibre and role of the people that are moving within the teams that counts.
If a significant number of the 220 former Mercedes employees that moved to Red Bull Power Trains, are design and research rather than engineering and assembly then Mercedes and their customers may have some cause for concern."

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2. Posted by Tardis40, 08/05/2024 18:16

"Christian has a talent for making them eat their words"

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3. Posted by Wokingchap, 08/05/2024 13:35

"@spindoctor.... don't entirely agree, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, including Toto..... and thd others."

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4. Posted by Superbird70, 08/05/2024 13:31

"All this energy wasted on not improving their cars. Pitiful."

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5. Posted by Mad Matt, 08/05/2024 12:59

"On the one hand what Toto says might be true, just as happened to HPP... on the other hand I'm not so interested in this kind of needle match."

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6. Posted by Spindoctor, 08/05/2024 12:10

"A load of tedious argy-bargy.
Wolff & many others down the pitlane, would be better advised making their own cars better, rather than indulging idle speculation about what might happen at RBR."

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Horner strikes back in 'exodus' row

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