Confirmations from Austria: Christian Horner to leave Red Bull after Imola. Christian Horner's future at Red Bull is uncertain,.

Many rumors
Autosprint was the first to report that Christian Horner’s position as Red Bull team principal was in danger, with the upcoming updates for the RB21 at Imola potentially being decisive – one way or another. The Italian weekly then explained that in case of Horner’s departure, the first name to replace him would be that of Oliver Oakes, the 37-year-old team principal at Alpine.

Surprisingly, Oakes himself resigned from his position at the French team on Tuesday evening, increasing rumors of a possible move to Red Bull in a cohabitation scenario with Horner, who would then receive a promotion.
The news reported yesterday by The Telegraph, according to which the personal reasons behind Oakes’ decision were tied to his brother William’s arrest, however, has put the entire situation in question, or at least on hold.

Red Bull’s denial
On the morning of Thursday, May 8, PlanetF1 cited “sources close to the situation” who denied the speculations surrounding Christian Horner, dismissing them as baseless. The article explained how Red Bull’s shareholders were not concerned with the recent results, how the English manager had a contract with the company until 2030, and how there was no perception of a team crisis among the company’s leadership.

And the rumors from Austria…
In the afternoon of Thursday, practically coinciding with the news from The Telegraph, the Austrian newspaper Österreich on their website brought up the entire story of Horner’s departure again, in an article strangely unsigned. They presented it with some strong wording: “Red Bull earthquake! Christian Horner on the verge of being fired. A true bombshell in F1: Red Bull could part ways with the team principal after the Imola race.”

The Austrians also confirmed Oliver Oakes’ candidacy as a potential successor, adding a second name to the list: Franz Tost. The 69-year-old Austrian – it was reported – had to leave his position at the smaller Red Bull team due to disagreements with Horner and now “there is a lot of talk” about him as a candidate for the role. In recent months, Franz Tost, who led Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri for 18 years, had explained that his decision to leave Formula 1 was personal and had been evaluated over the last two years of his career.

Franz Tost’s candidacy is surprising, and the reconstruction is worth considering, coming directly from Austria, the home country of both the former team principal and the Red Bull company.