Horner: F1 needs McLaren out of ‘turmoil’

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said Formula 1 needs McLaren back “performing at a high level” in the sport.

McLaren has not won a world title for a decade and last tasted victory in a race back in 2012, and they are currently going through another transitional phase after failing to meet expectations in 2018.

The Woking team joined forces with Renault after ditching Honda at the end of the 2017 season, but the McLaren chassis has proven to be very problematic and has ensured that McLaren are firmly rooted in the midfield.

“McLaren is a great team,” Horner told Motorsport.com.

“It’s got huge history – it’s, I think the second most winning team in Formula 1 – so Formula 1 needs McLaren to be performing at a high level.

“They’ve obviously got their challenges at the moment, and obviously look in a bit of turmoil, but hopefully within time they’ll manage to address that.”

Technical bosses Tim Goss and Matt Morris, plus racing director Eric Boullier have all departed with sporting director Gil de Ferran, performance director Andrea Stella and Toro Rosso’s James Key, negotiations permitting, forming the new-look line-up.

And McLaren boss Zak Brown said that the team are still not finished as they prepare for life without Fernando Alonso in Formula 1.

“We’re not done yet, both with bringing in talent, and our final structure,” Brown said.

“We have a good sense of what we’re going to do, but that’s not something that we want to make public, we just want to put our head down, and get on with the job.”

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