F1's brutal axe: the team bosses who were ruthlessly sacked

His obsessive attention to detail, corporate polish and relentless pursuit of perfection defined McLaren with Dennis at the helm.

However, when the time came to push him out, it was done with brutal precision.

The writing was already on the wall after the 2007 Spygate scandal and a messy fallout with Fernando Alonso, which weakened Dennis’s political position.

Dennis handed over his team principal duties to Martin Whitmarsh in 2009 but remained chairman and CEO of the McLaren Group.

However, tensions grew significantly during the disastrous reunion with Honda that Dennis had masterminded for the start of the hybrid engines era.

In 2016, Dennis was suspended from his role as chairman and CEO after reportedly trying to court Chinese investors without board approval. He attempted to fight back with legal action but lost in court.

There was no farewell or graceful transition period for Dennis, his exit was marked by a boardroom coup.

Cyril Abiteboul – Renault

Having spent years as the public face of Renault’s return to Formula 1 – first as managing director and later as team principal – Cyril Abiteboul was expected to lead the team into a bold new era under the Alpine name.

Instead, just weeks before the season began, he was out, with little public explanation and no transitional period.

Luca de Meo, Renault’s newly appointed CEO, had made it clear he wanted change, and Abiteboul, despite delivering Renault’s first podiums in nearly a decade during 2020, didn’t fit the new vision.

Internally, he was blamed for the team’s inconsistent performance and, perhaps more damagingly, for the collapse of its planned 2021 driver line-up.

The high-profile loss of Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren and the failed push to sign other top drivers reportedly weakened his standing.

Abiteboul had been closely associated with the Alpine rebranding, so the timing of his exit was particularly savage.

Abiteboul’s departure kicked off a revolving door of team bosses at Alpine that continues to this day.

Monisha Kaltenborn – Sauber

In 2012, Monisha Kaltenborn had made history as F1’s first female team boss. She had been with Sauber since 2000, climbing the ranks before being handed control by founder Peter Sauber, and helped steer the team through some of its most difficult financial periods, often under extreme pressure.

Sauber secured sixth place in 2012 and seventh in 2013 before a disastrous 2014 season in which the Swiss squad failed to score a point.

Kaltenborn managed to somewhat steady the ship the following year and Sauber climbed up eighth, even beating McLaren. However, 2016 saw Sauber drop to 10th with just two points scored all year.

The 2017 season started in a similar fashion, and by June, Kaltenborn was sacked.

While the results didn’t make the dismissal too surprising, her departure was sudden, messy, and poorly handled.

The official line was “divergent views of the future of the company” following the team’s acquisition by Longbow Finance.

Behind the scenes, Kaltenborn had reportedly clashed with the new owners over driver treatment — particularly her belief that both Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson should be given equal status, while management allegedly favoured Ericsson, whose backers were linked to the ownership.

The news of Kaltenborn’s firing broke just days before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The way her exit was handled was seen as especially brutal given her long service and the respect she commanded within the paddock.

Otmar Szafnauer – Alpine

As the Alpine roulette of team principals continued, Otmar Szafnauer joined the team in early 2022 and was removed just 18 months later.

Szafnauer had been hired with a long-term vision, bringing a solid reputation built at Force India and Aston Martin before his move to Alpine.

However, Szafnauer needed patience, and Alpine wanted quick results, leading to tension between the two parties.

Szafnauer had made it clear he needed time to build a winning project, but management — especially Luca de Meo — reportedly grew frustrated with the lack of immediate results.

Szafnauer was unceremoniously cut loose mid-season in 2023.

What made the sacking particularly savage was the timing amid a complete lack of stability. Alpine had already lost CEO Laurent Rossi and technical director Pat Fry also announced his departure just hours after Szafnauer’s exit was confirmed, citing a lack of enthusiasm from the team.

Szafnauer later revealed he was informed of his sacking not by the CEO or in a face-to-face meeting, but via a Zoom call from Renault Group’s HR manager.

Guenther Steiner – Haas

Before Horner, Guenther Steiner’s dismissal from Haas in 2024 was the latest of a significant list of team principal sackings in recent times.

Steiner had been the face and voice of Haas F1 since its debut in 2016, becoming almost a cult figure thanks to his expletive-laced appearances in Drive to Survive.

But behind the Netflix fame and media-friendly persona, tensions had been growing between Steiner and team owner Gene Haas, frustrated with the lack of progress, and when the axe came, it fell fast and without ceremony.

Officially, the sacking was attributed to Haas’s poor on-track performance, as the team finished last in the 2023 constructors’ championship.

Steiner learned of his dismissal while shopping in a supermarket in Italy, with no prior warning, although the news was at least delivered directly by Haas himself.

Given his central role in building the team from scratch, Steiner’s ousting felt personal, and for his fans, it was like watching a sitcom character get killed off between seasons.