Red Bull Racing CEO Christian Horner sacked amid team’s worst season in years

After 20 years of stewardship as team principal of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner was sacked from his position mid-season following the 2025 British Grand Prix. Horner leaves Red Bull as one of the most successful team bosses in the sport’s history, behind only the legendary Ron Dennis (138) for the most race wins overseen by a team principal with 124 and having guided his drivers to eight world championships alongside six constructors championships for his team since 2005.

In spite of this, Horner’s legacy in F1 has undoubtedly been tarnished by off-track controversy. After all, it was the saga surrounding his alleged sexual harassment of Red Bull employees which first created the rift between Horner and star Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, which many feel was one cause of his departure from the team.

Horner’s inability to solve the consistently poor performances of Verstappen’s teammates had become a running joke in the F1 paddock

Following the allegations made against Horner at the start of the 2024 season, Verstappen’s father Jos was recorded stating that “Red Bull was falling apart” and has not since hidden his desires for Verstappen to move away from the team that has so far overseen his son’s career.

With rumours intensifying in recent weeks that Mercedes have continued their courtship of the Dutch driver with eyes on the 2026 season, many have interpreted Red Bull’s removal of Horner from racing operations as a last-ditch attempt to retain Verstappen’s services.

However, there are multiple strictly racing reasons why Red Bull may also have sought to change the guard at this stage. The performance of the team, especially Verstappen’s various teammates, has been on a steady decline since their last Constructors’ title in 2023, with Red Bull currently sitting fourth in the standings at the halfway stage.

Rumours are already circling that Horner’s time away from Formula One could well be short, as both Ferrari and Alpine have been rumoured to be interested

Having previously disregarded team success in favour of prioritising Max Verstappen’s driver’s title, which the Dutch driver was able to retain in 2024, Red Bull are now failing on both fronts, with Verstappen almost 70 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri after just 12 races.

Alongside this, Horner’s inability to solve the consistently poor performances of Verstappen’s teammates had become a running joke in the F1 paddock. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson have tried their hand driving the Red Bull in 2025 and have only managed 7 points in that car between them, compared to Verstappen’s 165. To make matters worse, both drivers performed
significantly better when driving the car of Red Bull’s junior team ‘Racing Bulls’, demonstrating that the problem likely lies with the Red Bull car and not with their drivers’ ability.

As such, this decision from Red Bull to part ways with Horner after 20 years is a result of both on and off-track failures on Horner’s behalf. However, rumours are already circling that Horner’s time away from Formula One could well be short, as both Ferrari and Alpine have been rumoured to be interested in his services for the 2026 season. For now, former ‘Racing Bulls’ Team Principal Laurent Mekies takes over the helm of the senior team, attempting to right a sinking ship for the remainder of the 2025 F1 season.