The dust is starting to settle after Red Bull sacked Christian Horner last week, yet the reasons why they let their Formula 1 CEO and team principal go continue to emerge.

Horner enjoyed 20 years at the helm of Red Bull, as he joined soon after the Austrian energy drink brand bought the ailing Jaguar squad from Ford ahead of the 2005 F1 season. Yet their declining results and Horner’s push for power were a toxic blend that brought about his end.

As well as being the head of their racing team, the 51-year-old oversaw the creation and the progress of Red Bull Powertrains who will create the team’s engine for F1’s 2026 regulations. Also, Horner took control of Red Bull’s F1 marketing team and he even oversaw Racing Bulls’.

Horner’s pursuit of power was a leading reason why Red Bull sacked the Briton, after he lost the support of majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya. He had lost the support of Red Bull GmbH co-owner Mark Mateschitz and managing director Oliver Mintzlaff already a year ago.

Photo by Song Haiyuan/Paddocker/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Helmut Marko and Red Bull disagreed with Christian Horner suggesting they may not need Max Verstappen

Ultimately, the axe fell last Tuesday, when Red Bull sacked Horner without telling him why he was being placed on gardening leave for at least the remainder of 2025. Red Bull and Horner are negotiating a pay-off that may exceed £50m, as his contract is set to run through 2030.

The news of his sacking shocked Horner, who Matt Bishop says in his Motor Sport Magazine column told him that the Leamington Spa native was not aware his tenure was at risk when they saw each other one day before the call came from Red Bull that he was being released.

But Bishop also has ‘on good authority’ that Red Bull GmbH chief Mintzlaff and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko did not agree with one claim that Horner raised at the British Grand Prix in relation to the threat of driver Max Verstappen potentially joining Mercedes in 2026.

It is said that Verstappen has provisionally agreed to join Mercedes via a release clause in his contract at Red Bull through 2028. But Horner echoed what the late Dietrich Mateschitz told him about Sebastian Vettel joining Ferrari in 2015 in relation to a question about Verstappen.

Mateschitz told Horner, “We don’t need the best driver if we don’t have the best car”, when Vettel left Red Bull after one difficult season in 2014 on the back of winning the drivers’ title four times on the spin, as Verstappen has since 2021 only to struggle in a tricky car in 2025.

But Mintzlaff and Marko did not agree with Horner’s apparent suggestion at Silverstone that Red Bull do not need Verstappen if they do not have the best car. So, fearing the 27-year-old could join Mercedes, Red Bull are determined to do whatever it takes to guarantee he stays.

Max Verstappen has shown Red Bull need him like crazy for the past seven seasons

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
The British GP proved to be the last of the 406 Grands Prix entries that Horner oversaw with Red Bull, which resulted in six constructors’ titles, eight drivers’ titles, 124 race wins and 287 podiums. Verstappen scored Red Bull’s 107th pole at the British Grand Prix but finished fifth.

Verstappen has proven that Red Bull’s car can be quick in the right conditions, at the perfect circuit and in the right hands. But Red Bull designing a car that only the Dutchman can push to its limits is leaving the Milton Keynes crew just fourth in the 2025 constructors’ standings.

While Verstappen has won two Grands Prix and scored 165 points to sit third in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship after 12 rounds, Liam Lawson failed to score a point in the RB21 over his two rounds at Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda has only taken seven since he adopted the seat.

Sergio Perez also only scored 152 points to the 437 that Verstappen earned to win the 2024 drivers’ title, as the Mexican finished eighth in the standings. Horner’s decision to give Perez a contract at Red Bull for 2025 before pulling a U-turn in December also did not aid his case.

Tsunoda, Lawson and Perez are just the latest victims of the cursed second Red Bull car next to Verstappen since Daniel Ricciardo left after the 2018 F1 season, though. So, if Horner felt Red Bull could cope without Verstappen, Mintzlaff and Marko had no choice but to sack him.