SportsNews

Horner: Red Bull has the “strength” to deal with Newey, Wheatley exits

Published

11 months ago

January 9, 2025

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has downplayed the impact of losing two key members of staff ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Technical guru Adrian Newey announced his high-profile departure from the Milton Keynes-based outfit at the Miami Grand Prix, working on the brand’s RB17 project in the time ahead of what was later announced as a switch to Aston Martin.

Another loss came later in the year as sporting director Jonathan Wheatley agreed to become the team principal for Audi’s F1 effort, completing a year of gardening leave alongside the outfit’s final year under the Sauber guise.

Both were part of the Red Bull set-up since the team’s infancy in the championship, playing vital roles in the championship wins for Sebastian Vettel(2010-13) and Max Verstappen (2021-24) – but Horner is unmoved by the potential effects their departures could have.

“There’s only two going and obviously, Adrian left in Miami, so we haven’t seen him. He’s been working on the RB17 since then, so he’s not been working on any F1 projects,” Horner told Autosport.

“Obviously, sad to see them go. They’ve both played important roles in the team over their tenure in the team.

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Manager, Red Bull Racing
© Motorsport.com

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Manager, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andreas Beil

“But the show goes on, and I think we’ve got the strength and depth we’ve got. We have that and arguably 2026 – what we’re gearing up for in 2026 with our own power unit – is by far the biggest challenge and the most ambitious project this team has ever taken on.

“So, 2025, Jonathan will step off the pitwall, but other than that, everything remains the same.”

Insisting the team was not entering a rebuild, Horner added: “I would say rebuild goes way too far for two people that have left. It’s evolution.

“It’s something that has been on the cards for a little while, so something that has been part of the planning for some time.”

Red Bull, which failed to retain its constructors’ title after being overtaken by McLaren and Ferrarilast term, has made further structural changes to the management team, including the promotion of Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to head of racing.

Former senior strategy engineer Stephen Knowles takes on a new head of sporting regulations role which will help ensure compliance with F1’s rules as the liaison point with the FIA, while senior engineer of car engineering Richard Wolverson is taking on the head of racing operations job.

World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing race engineer
© Autosport.com

World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing race engineer

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

On whether Lambiase would still be Verstappen’s voice of reason, Horner explained: “Yes, he’ll still be working directly with Max. He just takes on a broader role, obviously, as he steps up.”

Pointing to the changes made, he added: “It’s just a natural progression trackside with those personnel.

“It’s great because it gives them an opportunity and sometimes an organisation, if it remains stagnant, it fails to progress.

“So, I think this is a fantastic opportunity of progression for many people in the team that have been long standing team members that deserve that opportunity.”

SportsNews

EPL: Fulham must move on from defeat to Manchester City — Iwobi

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Alex Iwobi says Fulham must stay positive despite their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

Marco Silva’s side put up a spirited display in the encounter, and were unlucky not to get at least one point.

Iwobi started the fight back by scoring the second goal for Fulham early in the second half.

The versatile midfielder’s compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze then rose from the bench to score two more goals for the Cottagers.

Manchester City, however, held on to go home with maximum points.

Iwobi stated that they deserved more from the game.

“I feel disappointed because we didn’t get anything out of the fighting spirit that we showed, but I think we have to take the positivity from the game,” Iwobi told the club’s official website.

Fulham will be away to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League game on Sunday.

SportsNews

EPL: Guardiola names team that impresses him everyday

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has named the Premier League club that has impressed him so much this season.

The Spaniard said that Enzo Maresca’s side have really impressed him with the improvement they make everyday.

Speaking after Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League on Tuesday night, Guardiola pointed out that a team must remain consistent to win the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just two points behind Arsenal with the victory over Fulham, but the Gunners could maintain their five points lead with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

“Chelsea impresses me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long,” he told reporters after the win.

“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we in December, January or February we were behind.

“The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long.

“But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”

SportsNews

Outrage As ‘Biological Male’ Wins World’s Strongest Woman Event in Texas (Photos)

Published

1 week ago

November 26, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman final has sparked outrage after an alleged transgender athlete won gold.

American Jammie Booker, who is accused of being a biological male, beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.

According to Mail Online, Thompson walked off the podium, appearing to say ‘this is bulls***,’ while Booker celebrated. The Brit has since been crowned the ‘true World’s Strongest Woman’ by her coach and some of her peers.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, has sensationally claimed that no one – not even the organizers – knew about Booker’s background.

Details on the American are not clear, but the publication sighted a YouTube video – uploaded to what appears to be Booker’s YouTube channel in September 2017, with Booker saying: ‘Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.

‘I’m 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.’

On Monday night, Roberts posted a picture on Instagram that read ‘Protect Women’s Sports.’ She wrote alongside the picture: ‘I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.

But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.

This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.

‘What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.

‘My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.

‘I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025’