Red Bull cautioned over immediate F1 change after Christian Horner sacking

Former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner does not see a quick shift occurring in Red Bull's results following the sacking of Christian Horner.

Red Bull confirmed earlier this month it had parted ways with its long-time team principal. Laurent Mekies has taken over at the helm of the Milton Keynes-based squad.

Steiner faced a similar situation at the beginning of January last year when his contract with Haas was not renewed following a 10-year stint as team principal.

Red Bull has endured a difficult time on the track of late and has had to rely on Max Verstappen to bring home results in a notoriously tricky car to drive.

With Horner out of the picture, Steiner does not expect to see an uptick in results in the near future.

“In the short term, there is not a big impact either way,” Steiner told the Business of Sport podcast.

“They are racing cars. It's not a football team that you bring a new player in so in the next game, you have got the new star or new talent there.

“If an [F1] team is good, it takes years to get bad. But also, if you're bad, it takes years to build up to be good again.

“Now [with] Christian going, I think in the next year of races, there will be no change in it [the results].

“The scene is already set for next year. The cars are under development, Red Bull is doing their own power unit.

“That’s all set up. If somebody now comes in and changes, he or she wouldn't have the time to do anything.

“Now that Christian leaves, you will not see a spike, neither down nor up.”

Mekies has taken over the reins at Red Bull following an 18-month stint leading the Racing Bulls squad.

Horner final year with Red Bull was marred with difficulties both on and off the track, which saw the emergence of a power struggle within the organisation.

However, with Max Verstappen already taking two race wins this year, Steiner questioned how bad the situation really is at Red Bull.

“It will be more what is next? How are they doing it, how are they restructuring?

“What were their actual problems with Christian? I don't know. The team still won races this year. It isn't this bad.”

Steiner highlighted a key issue Red Bull must get on top of is having two drivers bringing home noteworthy results.

“Obviously, they are not where they want to be as a manufacturer, but I put that one down to that they can’t get a second driver who can keep up with Max,” he said.

“If you take Max out, I think Red Bull would actually be last in the championship.”