Red Bull have sacked team principal Christian Horner halfway through the 2025 Formula 1 season after 20 years in charge.

The 51-year-old enjoyed incredible success at the Milton Keynes outfit, taking them from midfield strugglers to winning eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles. Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies will replace Horner as Red Bull CEO and team principal.

The team have still not given a reason why they have decided to sack Horner so suddenly. However, recent results may give away their thinking, given that they are 288 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship.

Max Verstappen is still in the mix for a fifth consecutive championship, but his chances of catching Oscar Piastri, who is 69 points ahead, are quite slim. Reports have suggested that Verstappen was pushing for Horner’s exit after demanding changes at Red Bull.

But Verstappen’s camp have shut down those rumours as ‘nonsense’, so too have ‘all parties’ involved in the situation. The news of Horner’s dismissal took many F1 fans and pundits aback, but McLaren boss Zak Brown was not as surprised.

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Zak Brown suggests the drama at Red Bull was ‘getting worse’ under Christian Horner before his sacking

Brown and Horner have not seen eye to eye in the F1 paddock in recent years. The former dethroned the latter at the top of the standings last year and has now pulled away at the front with McLaren in 2025.

Horner had been trying to ‘destabilise’ McLaren as he questioned the legitimacy of McLaren’s rise up the grid. His attempts were ultimately unsuccessful as Red Bull fell further behind, resulting in his sacking.

Speaking with TSN, Brown says that Horner’s sacking was not surprising in terms of the result. He suggested that the drama with the team was ‘getting worse’ under his leadership, with Verstappen being heavily linked with Mercedes amid his frustrations at Red Bull.

Asked what surprised him about his rival’s sacking, Brown said: “Maybe the timing, but not the result. I think there’s been a lot of drama there the last couple years and it doesn’t seem like that drama has been calming down, maybe [it’s] been getting worse.

“So, I’m not surprised, any time in the middle of the season, but we’re head down on our championship. They’ve got Max still knocking on the door so we got to pay attention to that.

“But, yeah, tremendous amount of success they had.”

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Will Christian Horner return to F1? – Zak Brown gives his answer

Unsurprisingly, it has not taken long for the Red Bull boss to be linked with other jobs around the F1 paddock. Horner is unlikely to join Ferrari despite rumours of talks between the two parties and the uncertainty of team principal Fred Vasseur.

Alpine are another team linked with the 51-year-old, but reports have suggested that he could look to become a shareholder in the team. Horner would have to pay £298m to Alpine as they could look to sell 20% of their shares.

Horner may spend some time away from F1 and motorsport before making a decision on his future. But Brown expects him to make his return in some capacity.

“I think given his age and history in motor racing, I’d be surprised if he didn’t show up somewhere in motor racing,” he said.

“But I don’t know his other interests, whether he wants to go run a football team or what have you. We’ll see.”