Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner has compared the departure of legendary designer Adrian Newey to that of Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Manchester United.
Newey has been credited as a key reason behind Red Bulls’ dominance of F1 over the last few years. Horner’s team have won the past two Constructors Championships in dominant fashion with driver Max Verstappen winning the last three Drivers Championships.
But Newey’s departure to rivals Aston Martin has led to some questioning whether Red Bull could be heading towards a decline. The 65-year-old will become Managing Technical Partner and a shareholder of his new team next year.
However, Horner has argued that Red Bull will be fine, referencing how United continued to win after Eric Cantona’s departure from Old Trafford in 1997. “Life carries on,” he told Sky Sports.
“We have a great team. We have great strength and depth. Manchester United didn’t stop winning when Eric Cantona left. Everything has to evolve.”
It was then pointed out to Horner that Cantona retired rather than joining another team, at which point he referenced Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid in 2009, after which Sir Alex Ferguson led United to two more Premier League titles. “Ok, Ronaldo. I’m not a football analogy specialist,” he said.
Horner’s words come in the wake of Ronaldo grabbing headlines this week after adding further criticism of Erik ten Hag in a podcast with Rio Ferdinand. The Portuguese previously criticised Ten Hag in a controversial interview with Piers Morgan in 2022.
“Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League,” he said to Ferdinand. “They can win the Carabao [Cup] – Champions League or Europa League or Premier League, difficult.”
In response, Ten Hag said on Thursday: “No, he said this, if you read the article very well. He is far away in the Saudi [Arabian league], so everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to have an opinion. It is OK.”
Leave a Reply