Red Bull insiders admit Christian Horner was out of his depth with the team’s ‘technical’ experts

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Laurent Mekies and Christian Horner are very different. While the former comes from an engineering background, Horner is an ex-racer.

Mekies also shuns the limelight, while Horner relished his ‘pantomime villain’ role at Red Bull. That didn’t sit well with the team’s ownership when their ground-effect dominance came to an end.

Horner helped Red Bull win 14 world championships – eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ crowns – over a 20-year tenure. He’s one of the most successful team bosses in the sport’s history.

Max Verstappen’s title chances are slipping away, so Mekies will have to wait until at least 2026 to get off the mark. Many Red Bull employees don’t want to show any disrespect to their former team principal given what he achieved, but some do acknowledge his failings ‘at his end’.

Christian Horner stopped ‘delegating’ in his final months at Red Bull

Speaking on the Nailing the Apex podcast, ESPN journalist Nate Saunders explained that Horner started ‘overreaching’ in an attempt to consolidate his position. Previously, one of his great strengths was that he was willing to delegate.

But Horner started ‘interjecting’ in technical discussions even though this wasn’t his area of expertise. By contrast, Mekies has been widely praised for honing Red Bull’s engineering methods.

Adrian Newey joined the team just after Horner and led their car design until the spring of 2024, when he handed in his resignation. Perhaps that played a part in the changing dynamics.

“The big rap on Horner at the end was that he was maybe overreaching his power a little bit,” said Saunders. “He was trying to grab a bit [more].

“From what I’ve heard from people at the team, the negative [impact] that had on the team was that Christian Horner did not have a technical background.

“As good as he was as a team manager and a leader of that team for so long, one of the things he did so well was delegate to people that knew better than him.

“In the end, he was interjecting a bit too much in areas where his experience wasn’t that great.”

Christian Horner could invest in struggling F1 team in 2027

It’s worth noting that Horner signed off on the Monza floor upgrade that transformed Verstappen’s season, enabling him to take three wins in four races and re-enter the title picture.

However, Horner wanted to stop developing Red Bull’s car at that point, whereas Mekies has continued to push for upgrades. The Frenchman is confident this won’t hurt the team next year.

Sacked in July, Horner has reached a lucrative settlement that will allow him to return to F1 in the spring.

The latest ‘whisper’ in the paddock is that Horner will return with Alpine, this time in the capacity of an investor rather than a team principal. However, that deal is unlikely to be struck before 2027.