Red Bull ‘observers’ saw one clear sign that the power had gone to Christian Horner’s head before he was sacked

Follow us on Google Discover

Christian Horner was by far the longest-serving team principal in Formula 1 before he was sacked this week. He arrived at Red Bull eight years before Toto Wolff took over at Mercedes (2013).

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur and McLaren’s Andrea Stella shared third place on that list, but they only arrived at the start of 2023. That is a testament to Horner’s longevity.

It’s inevitable that he accumulated more and more power in that two-decade tenure. This was an unofficial reward for his success as he helped deliver 14 championship trophies.

But Red Bull have become increasingly divided in recent months. And when that happens in a Formula 1 team, casualties almost always follow.

Christian Horner started making decisions because they were ‘good for him’, observers claim

Horner fell out with Jos Verstappen last year, and while that dispute seemed to cool, it was never fully resolved. Indeed, it’s believed that Verstappen’s father has circulated Mercedes transfer rumours in recent times.

What’s more, Horner was involved in a power struggle with Helmut Marko, who’s closely aligned to the team’s Austrian ownership. Up until recently, the Englishman retained the support of the Thai majority shareholders.

However, Chalerm Yoovidhya lost faith in Horner after attending the disastrous Austrian GP, where the team failed to score a single point. The BBC’s Andrew Benson has heard that Horner tried to consolidate his grip by making self-interested decisions.

The feeling was that Horner started acting like he was the team, and those above him were predictably ‘not happy’ with this approach.

“Horner had become almost inextricably linked with the team, and some of the criticisms that I’ve heard in the past few months or so, or slightly longer than that, have been that he was no longer able to see himself as separate from the team,” Benson said on the Chequered Flag podcast.

“As a leader, you can’t end up under any kind of delusion that you are the team. No-one can second-guess what’s going on inside someone’s head, but observers of Red Bull, people who’ve worked closely with Red Bull, they perceived a change in approach in recent times.

“[There was] a sense that those dividing lines were being blurred. Decisions were being made because they were good for Christian Horner, but they were not necessarily the right decisions for Red Bull.

“I’m not saying whether these people were right or not. But it’s very clear that the Red Bull management were not happy with the way the team was being led.”

Martin Brundle warns Christian Horner about one major restriction he’d face at Ferrari

It’s unlikely that Horner’s involvement in F1 has concluded. Even if he doesn’t join another team, there are other avenues.

He’ll no doubt receive several offers to work in the media, while he could follow Stefano Domenicali and take up a role within the sport’s commercial set-up.

Horner’s links to Ferrari will intensify now that he’s a free agent. The incumbent, Fred Vasseur, is out of contract at the end of the season.

But Martin Brundle has warned Horner that he won’t receive a stake in Ferrari. He may want to emulate Toto Wolff, who owns a third of the Mercedes team.