Why Red Bull dismissed Christian Horner, and what it might mean for Max Verstappen
Christian Horner is out at Red Bull F1. What does that mean for Max Verstappen’s future with the team?
The longest-tenured Team Principal on the Formula 1 grid has departed.
After weeks of speculation over the future of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, it is Christian Horner who is departing the team. It was announced on Wednesday that Horner is leaving with immediate effect, and that Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Team Principal Laurent Mekies would be moving into that role with the senior team.
But while this news coming at this time may be a shock, according to reporting “fault lines” formed within the organization that finally gave way in recent days. According to Sky Sports F1 analyst Craig Slater, Horner’s main pillar of support within Red Bull gave way recently.
Fault lines at Red Bull F1
“In terms of why he and Red Bull have parted ways, we have to look at the fault lines which have been at that team for some time now. Part of that is the divided ownership of the team. 49% of the Red Bull company is owned by the Mateschitz family,” said Slater.
“Mark Mateschitz the son of Dietrich Mateschitz owns 49% of the business. That Austrian-owned section had largely been in control of the various sporting projects, particularly the F1 team.
“51% was Thai owned. Chalerm Yoovidhya who had previously been an ally of Christian Horner’s and had supported him while those investigations into some issues at the company involving Christian Horner that had been ongoing for the last couple of years, the female member of staff making allegations against Christian Horner which two internal investigations cleared him of,” added Slater.
“Chalerm Yoovidhya stood by Christian Horner during this time. My understanding is that support eventually has gone away.”
Another fault line emerged last year, around the time of that investigation into alleged misconduct within the team. That was a fault line between Horner and Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen’s father. While Red Bull got out to a strong start last year on the track, tensions were brewing behind the scenes, and in the paddock.
Jos blasted Horner in an interview with the Daily Mail early last season.
“There is tension here while he remains in position,” said the elder Verstappen. “The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Following the publication of that interview, reports surfaced of a tense, animated meeting between the elder Verstappen and Horner in the Red Bull paddock before the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sky Italy released a brief 19-second video of the meeting, wherein Horner can be seen gesturing numerous times during the discussion.
Those stories kicked off reports of a “Civil War” at Red Bull, and a fresh round of “Max to Mercedes” rumors through the paddock. While a sit-down between Horner and Verstappen’s representatives in Dubai seemingly brought the temperature down, the team’s struggles to begin 2025 only served to pick at those scabbed-over wounds.
Key departures at Red Bull
But there are more fault lines. Red Bull has endured several key departures in recent months. Jonathan Wheatley, for years the team’s Sporting Director, now serves as the Team Principal at Sauber. Rob Marshall, one of their key designers, is now enjoying an incredible run at McLaren.
There is another departure at the end of this season, as Honda leaves as the power unit supplier for Red Bull to join forces with Aston Martin. Red Bull is developing their own power units in partnership with Ford, and those components arrive next season.
And of course, you have Adrian Newey, a living legend, now carrying his famous notebook around in Aston Martin’s garage.
Then there are the driver decisions that some outlets have pointed to as another reason for Horner’s departure. The proverbial “second seat of death” has been a problem for Red Bull alongside Verstappen in recent seasons. While Sergio Pérez scored a podium finish in four of the first five races last season — leading to a new deal that he signed ahead of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix — he struggled down the stretch as Red Bull faded from title contention, and he was ultimately dismissed following the 2024 campaign, despite his new contract.
Red Bull turned to Liam Lawson to start the 2025 season but he was demoted after just two races, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. The veteran has failed to deliver in the RB21 as well, scoring just seven points over ten race weekends.
Then there is the simple fact that this year’s challenger, the RB21, has not lived up to expectations. Departures such as Newey and Marshall certainly played a role, but Horner is the boss, and the proverbial buck stops there.
More on this in a moment.
A power struggle in the paddock
In the end, this was a “power struggle” that Horner lost, according to Sky Sports F1.
“The other aspect to all of this has been the uneasy relationship between Horner and let’s call it the Verstappens, particularly Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen’s father,” said Slater.
“It’s still a big surprise because this was a team still winning races, winning races this year and Christian Horner has been absolutely instrumental to that team becoming what it is today. He’s built it up from a very small operation.
“I think this is the ultimate end of the power struggle which has been apparent in that team in the last couple of years and ultimately it’s a power struggle which Christian Horner has lost.”
“There was clearly a public showing of an internal war between certain parts of Red Bull and Christian,” added Karun Chandhok.
“A huge amount of focus in that team is on Max Verstappen. Without Max Verstappen that team would be struggling. Yuki Tsunoda finished last in the last couple of races. It’s put a huge amount of power within that team on Max Verstappen and his camp and his team.”
What does this mean for Max Verstappen?
But will Horner’s sacking be enough to keep Verstappen at Red Bull?
One Max whisperer is not so sure.
Erik van Haren, who covers F1 for Dutch outlet De Telegraaf and is viewed as a “go-to” for all things Verstappen, is not convinced.
And it all starts with the car.
“You’re getting now a lot of reports and people thinking okay Horner is out, so that means Verstappen will stay. I don’t think it’s that clear. I think what for the Verstappens is most important is that the team is making steps with the car. They have a lot of problems with this car,” said van Haren on Wednesday.
“They want more performance and then they can make the decision: is this our team for the future, yes or no. I think this decision [with Horner] has been made to get more peace in the team but also maybe to say to Verstappen, maybe for you this is a good moment to stay.
“Maybe it gives Red Bull a better chance to keep him in the team but that’s not a guarantee at this point,” added van Haren.
“I think he will make up his mind this month. They have two weeks to go before the summer break so he has a lot of time to think and also to see how the car is performing.”
In the end, it might all come back to the car.
Every race car driver wants the fastest car, and Verstappen is no exception to that rule. That has made the “Max to Mercedes” rumors easier to believe in recent weeks, given Red Bull’s struggles with the RB21 and the paddock whispers that Mercedes might be on the front foot when the new regulations arrive in 2026.
Which is why Horner’s final FIA Press Conference may have contained this statement:
“2026 is going to be a transformational year. It’s the biggest rule change in Formula 1 probably in the last 50 years where both chassis and power unit are being introduced at the same time. Nobody, with hand on heart, can know what the pecking order is going to be. It could be either one of these gentlemen [on] either side of me. It could be Ferrari. It could be Mercedes. It could be anyone.
“There’s an awful lot of subjectiveness to 2026, and it’ll only be really this time next year that you’ll have a clear indication of what that pecking order is. So, there are no guarantees that jumping into a Mercedes car would automatically be a better proposition.” (emphasis added)
Horner’s final pitch to Verstappen?
Now he’ll only be able to watch from the sidelines to see whether that was enough.