Why Red Bull sacked Christian Horner now, after a year that never stopped spiraling

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This was never the way that Christian Horner would have expected his time in charge of Red Bull’s Formula One team to come to an end.

As recently as last month, Horner said his commitment was “100 percent” to Red Bull Racing, with a contract running to the end of the decade. In 20 years, he’d overseen the team’s transformation from a floundering midfielder that was sold to the energy drink giant for £1 to one that conquered the F1 world with unprecedented levels of success.

In January 2005, a 30-year-old Horner waited in the car park of the team’s factory while the former Jaguar F1 boss was being dismissed, before being introduced to the workforce as the youngest team principal in F1 history upon the rebrand to Red Bull Racing. In the book Growing Wings, published last year, Horner revealed he only knew one person in the room, getting an otherwise frosty response from the stunned workforce.

Twenty years later, Horner knew every single person who assembled for his speech on Wednesday morning when he informed them he would no longer be serving as team principal. In footage of the speech obtained by Sky Sports, Horner called the news a “shock” as he paid tribute to the team members, calling his time at Red Bull “the biggest privilege of my life.” He was subject to a big round of applause when he took a moment to gather himself after becoming emotional.

It was evidence of the widespread support that Horner retained from the workforce within Red Bull Racing, which had persisted even in the wake of the investigation into allegations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior made against Horner by a female Red Bull employee last year. The grievance was dismissed after an internal investigation, a decision upheld on appeal. Horner denied the allegations.

But with the team tracking for its worst championship finish in a decade, and continued questions being asked over star driver Max Verstappen’s future, Red Bull Racing’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, has now decided to act and confirmed on Wednesday that Horner had been “released from his operational duties.”

It’s a significant break point in the recent history of Red Bull, and although the tensions have been bubbling away in the team for some time, the sudden nature of Horner’s departure makes it a big shock for the entire F1 paddock.

The long-running power struggle

Since the death of Red Bull’s founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, in October 2022, the struggle for power at Red Bull Racing has been rumbling in the background between the two ‘sides’ that own the parent company, Red Bull GmbH.

The Austrian side of the company owns 49 percent of shares, overseen by Mark Mateschitz, Dietrich’s son and heir. The remaining — and crucial — 51 percent belong to Chalerm Yoovidhya, the son of Chaleo Yoovidhya, who co-founded Red Bull with Dietrich Mateschitz in the 1980s

The fact that Yoovidhya had the majority share meant that, through all the internal power struggles that may have played out at Red Bull, his support was critical to Horner. Yoovidhya was a notable attendee at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix — days after the grievance against Horner was dismissed, and a cache of unverified messages and photos purportedly sent by Horner to the complainant were anonymously sent to numerous international media members and high-ranking F1 figures — and spent time with Horner on the grid, as well as in parc ferme while celebrating Verstappen’s victory. Yoovidhya most recently attended the Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull’s home race, at the end of June.

Traditionally, decisions taken by the shareholders were made in consultation with Horner, Red Bull Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko (who has always been close to the Austrian side of the company), and Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull GmbH’s CEO of corporate projects and investments. Last year, Marko’s position came into question amid scrutiny over his potential role in the message leaks, only for talks with Mintzlaff to lead to him staying in his position. Verstappen had warned when the initial question marks over Marko’s future arose that he would not be able to continue racing for the team if the Austrian were to depart.

Last week at Silverstone, Horner spoke of Red Bull Racing having “very tight senior management” and “a very strong structure.” While this may have been true for the team itself, with key personnel reporting to Horner, there was always an awkward struggle for power playing out behind the scenes — one that would only be definitively decided by those at the very top.

The fact that Horner has now been dismissed from his role by Red Bull GmbH suggests that the all-important support from the Thai side of the company has disappeared, and there is an alignment between the shareholders that a change was required. The Athletic has approached GmbH for comment.

The messaging from Red Bull in the wake of the news has been one of gratitude. The press release announcing Horner’s exit included a quote from Mintzlaff thanking the Briton for his “exceptional work.” The team’s social media post about the news was almost word-for-word the same as Mintzlaff’s quote.

Red Bull’s troublesome second seat is one of many issues at the team (Andrej Isakovic/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

But why now?

What separates the Red Bull of July 2025 from any other point in its recent history under Horner is its on-track fortunes. Because this year, they have not been wholly positive.

Verstappen has hauled his Red Bull RB21 car to two race wins, putting in majestic displays at Suzuka and Imola to snare victory away from the dominant McLarens. Otherwise, Verstappen’s immeasurable talent has been enough to compensate for the shortcomings of Red Bull’s car, which has proven troublesome since midway through last season.

The issues with the car have been illustrated most plainly by the ‘second’ Red Bull car, which hasn’t recorded a top-five finish in over a year. Sergio Pérez’s spiraling form led to his exit at the end of last year, with Red Bull preferring to pay out for his contract for 2025 instead of keeping him in the car. His replacement, Liam Lawson, lasted just two races before being dropped for Yuki Tsunoda, who has scored only seven points and is still far behind Verstappen.

As much as Red Bull may insist the car is not built around Verstappen, the truth is only the Dutchman has been able to tame its difficult nature to score regular points. Verstappen is responsible for 165 of the team’s 172 points this year, or 95.9 percent, a reliance and lack of support from the other side of the garage that could also have bred some frustration within the Verstappen camp. The lack of two drivers fighting at the very front will always hurt championship potential.

The failure to remedy the struggles with the car that emerged midway through last year and keep pace with McLaren has also occurred against the backdrop of a series of major departures. The highest-profile exit was that of Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s chief technical officer and the most successful designer in F1 history, who quit after 19 years last year ahead of a move to Aston Martin. This followed the exit of chief engineering officer Rob Marshall at the start of 2024, who joined McLaren as a technical director and has since been instrumental in the team’s success.

Newey wasn’t the only big name to leave Red Bull last year. Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull’s sporting director, departed at the end of the season to become the Sauber team principal, while head of strategy Will Courtenay is set to join McLaren next year as its new sporting director.

Horner has consistently downplayed the potential impact of these exits, instead talking up Red Bull’s strength in depth and its ability to bring more engineering talent through its ranks. However, observers from rival teams up and down the paddock have privately commented that it doesn’t point to a stable team to have so many names leaving.

The big concern for Red Bull’s shareholders right now will be the struggle for on-track performance compared to its rivals. At present, Red Bull sits fourth in the constructors’ championship and is effectively relying solely on Verstappen for its returns. Barring an uplift in form, it’s tough to envisage the team clawing past either Mercedes or Ferrari, with McLaren already well on its way to a second straight constructors’ title. Fourth would be Red Bull’s worst constructors’ finish since 2015, bringing with it a reduced prize money return running into the tens of millions compared to the historic double title-winning 2023 season.

Verstappen and Horner ahead of FP2 at the British GP (Sipa USA)

The impact of Verstappen’s future

Another critical piece of context at this time is the spotlight being placed on Verstappen’s future amid continued speculation about a potential switch to Mercedes for the 2026 season.

Horner has always dismissed this as “noise” and pointed to Verstappen’s contract that runs to 2028. Although he acknowledged at Silverstone that there was a need to plan for a post-Verstappen era at Red Bull, it wasn’t one he outwardly recognized could happen soon. Verstappen has recently batted away questions about his future, yet also passed on opportunities to firmly state he will be racing for Red Bull next year.

Verstappen’s father, Jos, was one of the most outspoken critics of Horner at the height of the investigation into the now former Red Bull team principal last year. He warned after the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix that Red Bull would be “torn apart” if Horner stayed in charge; a clear sign of just how poor relations had grown between the two men, with there being little outward sign of improvement since then.

In a crammed media session, the images of which have since been widely shared on social media, at Silverstone last Thursday, Max Verstappen was asked if there was any truth to rumors that his camp was pushing for Horner’s exit. Verstappen replied: “I don’t know anything about that.”

Verstappen’s personal social media account shared a message on Wednesday that struck a similar grateful tone to the Red Bull GmbH statement, accompanied by a picture of him embracing Horner. “From my first race win, to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes,” Verstappen wrote. “Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian!”

The exit of Horner unquestionably will have an impact on Verstappen’s future as he weighs up what to do for 2026. He’s been clear in his frustration about the team’s struggle for form this year, long brushing off thoughts of retaining his world title. To him, the most important thing is performance.

And one thing Verstappen has always stressed is the need to bring that out, particularly in the early months of 2024, is a calmness and peace around him; the right conditions in which to get the best out of himself. Should this change bring about that peace by defusing any power struggle, that would only be seen as a positive step toward keeping Verstappen in place.

Yet changing the man at the top does not immediately guarantee on-track success. It took Andrea Stella 18 months to get things to click with McLaren, while Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari honeymoon is well and truly over amid its own struggles. Horner’s replacement, Laurent Mekies, is well-known and well-liked within the Red Bull setup.

However, a significant task will be convincing Verstappen that it remains the best place for him to race next year and beyond. If the doubt is so great that a move away is desired, then Red Bull would end up losing its most prized asset of all — and leave it in need of an even greater rebuild.

(Top photo: Sipa USA)

This news was originally published on this post .

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