Christian Horner losing his role as Red Bull Racing team principal raises a lot of interesting questions.

At the halfway stage of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen appears to be out of contention to win his fifth drivers’ championship.

Verstappen sits 69 points behind Oscar Piastri, with McLaren looking almost certain to win both championships for the first time since 1998.

For context, Red Bull have achieved a drivers’ and constructors’ championship double six times since then with Christian Horner at the helm.

However, that no longer looks like a possibility in 2025, and on Wednesday, Red Bull decided to part ways with Horner.

Verstappen has been linked to Mercedes throughout this season, despite his current contract running until the end of the 2028 campaign.

Horner’s final statement on Red Bull’s star driver’s future now becomes even more interesting when the team’s decision to sack him is taken into account.

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

What Christian Horner said about Max Verstappen’s future before Red Bull exit

Journalist Ronald Vording was asked on the Autosport Podcast before Horner’s sacking how rumours surrounding Verstappen’s future are impacting the Red Bull camp.

He explained: “Well, that was interesting on Friday in Silverstone when, of course, Christian Horner was in the press conference and all questions were about Max and Mercedes.

“One thing was interesting because he got a really direct question, because before that he said, oh, it’s all noise speculation, it’s all media stuff, and it’s annoying and distracting.

“And then the question was, OK, but you can take away all the noise now if you really don’t like it. Just tell us, is Max Verstappen driving for Red Bull Racing in 2026? Yes or no.

“And he didn’t answer in the same way as Verstappen didn’t answer in Austria and also didn’t answer during media day in Silverstone because, of course, they cannot answer that question yet.

“And then Horner said, contracts are always confidential. Of course, there are clauses in there, but we’re not going to talk about them.

“But that was not the question, so he basically went around it, and also he was playing with words a lot.”

Christian Horner exit could have been part of Max Verstappen’s demands to stay at Red Bull

Whether or not Horner knew that his job was on the line heading into the British Grand Prix isn’t yet known.

However, the Milton Keynes-based outfit arrived at Silverstone off the back of their first pointless race in years at their home event in Austria, and Red Bull’s Thai owners had already started to lose patience with Horner.

Verstappen compromised his set-up at Silverstone to help him take a fantastic pole position, only for a rainier forecast than expected to thwart his efforts during Sunday’s race.

He could only watch on as McLaren’s two drivers sailed off into the distance in changeable conditions to further cement their dominance this season.

If Red Bull didn’t believe that Horner could guarantee Verstappen would be racing for the team next season, then it makes sense to part ways with him.

Without the Dutchman, Red Bull would be languishing near the bottom of the constructors’ championship, and years of developing a car to his liking would be wasted.

It’s been suggested that Verstappen would need Horner to leave Red Bull to consider staying, but the 27-year-old hasn’t confirmed his plans for next season yet.

Verstappen has paid tribute to Horner, but he might also be preparing to say his emotional goodbyes to the factory.