Christian Horner did something ‘provocative’ that stoked ‘resentment’ of Red Bull in the F1 paddock

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Red Bull had two spells of sustained dominance during Christian Horner’s two-decade tenure at Milton Keynes. They became world champions within five years of his arrival thanks to Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel’s 2010 triumph sparked a run of four in a row, with Red Bull also unbeaten in the constructors’ championship. After he crushed the competition in 2013, the team would have to wait until 2021 to regain the throne.

Their driver academy had delivered another generational talent, perhaps one with an even higher ceiling than Vettel. Max Verstappen has won four straight drivers’ titles, even though Red Bull have only won the constructors’ twice in the same period.

A run like this always breeds envy. Many of Red Bull’s detractors will welcome the impending end of Verstappen’s reign, but McLaren’s superiority won’t be popular for long if it continues.

Christian Horner ‘one-liners’ contributed to Red Bull’s divisive image in F1 paddock

According to Mark Hughes’ retrospective for Motor Sport Magazine, Red Bull carried a ‘strutting arrogance’ under Horner, like ‘all dominant F1 juggernauts’. This caused many insiders to turn against them.

Vettel’s ‘single finger at the camera’ celebration epitomised the team’s attitude, as did Verstappen’s ‘bullying tactics’. Horner’s ‘provocative one-liners’ weren’t appreciated either.

Indeed, a recent report claimed that even some Red Bull executives felt Horner was getting ‘too big for his boots’ as he lent into his ‘pantomime baddie’ persona on Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series.

All of this ‘brought resentment within the paddock’, as well as ‘among the fans’, Hughes says. Horner was sacked last month, and based on his time at Racing Bulls, replacement Laurent Mekies will be a less polarising, if less prominent, personality.

Did Christian Horner become too ‘aggressive’ in Red Bull meetings?

Speaking at the Hungarian GP, McLaren boss Zak Brown suggested that F1 would be ‘healthier’ with Mekies at the helm of Red Bull than it was with Horner. He expects relations between the two teams to improve.

“There’s always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent,” he said, via ESPN. “I’m a fan of Laurent, I have known him for a long time, and it’ll be good to go racing against him.

“I’m looking forward to racing Red Bull, more like we race Ferrari and Mercedes and being more collegiate, because it’s important for the benefit of the sport that we all can work together.”

• READ MORE: Christian Horner unlikely to work for £1.6bn-valued F1 team after Red Bull exit over control concerns

Horner ultimately lost too much support within the team’s hierarchy over the past few years. Perhaps the final outcome was inevitable.

Indeed, it’s said that Horner’s meetings with decision-makers became increasingly ‘aggressive’ as he fought to defend his position. The Englishman didn’t want to relinquish any of his key powers despite pressure from above.