Christian Horner is reportedly worried Porsche's plans for the rumoured Red Bull buyout could cost him his job as team principal.
Speculation at Zandvoort suggests the hold-up in the finalisation of the expected 50 percent buyout by the VW-owned German sports carmaker is the resistance of Horner and Adrian Newey.
"We have heard rumours about Christian Horner and the new deal with Porsche," well-known Dutch commentator Olav Mol told GP33.
"According to our information, Horner fears that he will be fired if Porsche takes control."
Other speculation suggests that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz is in failing health and keen to sell the Milton Keynes-based premier team to Red Bull and Alpha Tauri potentially to Michael Andretti.
If the Porsche deal goes through, it is rumoured that the marque might try to poach its former Le Mans boss Andreas Seidl from McLaren to replace Horner.
Another VW brand, Audi, has already announced that it will definitely enter F1 in 2026, but the rumoured 75 percent buyout of the Sauber team has not yet been made official.
"You don't have to speed up the process," said Frederic Vasseur, boss of the Swiss team that currently races as Alfa Romeo.
"The announcement was about the new engine for 2026. We are speaking about four years' time and not next week, so step by step we will see what could be the future."
