Christian Horner sacking leaves Red Bull engineers with ‘sudden’ problem that could haunt them for five years

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Christian Horner leaves Red Bull during a small break in the Formula 1 season. There are two weekends without a race before round 13 in Belgium.

Perhaps the team could have waited until the summer break, a more natural juncture for successor Laurent Mekies to acclimatise. But there was perhaps a sense of urgency after a dreadful 10-point haul across the last two weekends (intensifying the doubts over Max Verstappen’s future).

Mekies won’t be judged on the team’s performances for the remainder of the season, nor should he be. Development on the 2025 car is nearly complete.

The Frenchman will at least try to restore stability and harmony to the Milton Keynes outfit. He arrives on the eve of major regulation changes, with the team’s plans already in motion.

Christian Horner’s exit leaves ‘power vacuum’ in Red Bull engine department

The headline change at Red Bull for next year is the move to an independent power unit. They’ve been supplied by Honda since 2019, but have now set up their own engine division.

As noted by Gazzetta dello Sport, Horner was ‘among the main supporters’ of this programme. He helped to arrange the technical partnership with Ford.

• READ MORE: Why Christian Horner being sacked by Red Bull could save Yuki Tsunoda’s Formula 1 career

The team have acknowledged that this is a ‘hugely important and extremely complex challenge’. Horner even said during the British GP weekend that it would be ’embarrassing’ if they could match Mercedes at the outset.

The sacking of Horner leaves the RBPT project ‘facing a sudden power vacuum’. If the issue isn’t swiftly resolved, the engine could be ‘compromised’ not just for 2026, but for the entire ruleset, which runs until the end of 2030.

The Max Verstappen meetings that contributed to Christian Horner being sacked

Red Bull’s 2026 simulations have already delivered worrying results, so it’s likely that Horner was actively overseeing the urgent development work.

Mekies may be his replacement, but Red Bull could take this opportunity to restructure. They may, for instance, take the Powertrains department out of his hands so he can focus on other areas.

Various reports have suggested that Max Verstappen demanded changes at Red Bull in response to their concerning slide. McLaren are setting the standard in F1 at the moment, and they have Zak Brown and Andrea Stella running the team in tandem.

Red Bull ‘sources’ suggest that Verstappen was involved in meetings with senior staff, including CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in recent weeks. Perhaps those conversations forged a consensus that Horner had to go.