Why Christian Horner’s management style made Red Bull personnel ‘jealous’ in final months before sacking

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Christian Horner’s surprise sacking was announced on Wednesday by Red Bull Racing after serving a 20-year tenure as team principal, prompting a wave of reports on the inner workings of Horner’s management.

Horner informed his colleagues at Red Bull of his departure in an emotional speech, which left a few members of the team in tears and came after a vast change in results on-track for Red Bull.

After a nearly perfect season in 2023, where the team won all but one race, they slipped to third in the 2024 constructors’ championship and currently find themselves in fourth place.

The results appear to reflect what has been happening behind the scenes at the team for a while now, with David Croft hearing that designers were ignoring drivers’ concerns about Red Bull’s car.

Red Bull personnel ‘feared’ the direction Christian Horner was taking the team

According to a report from The Race, the reason for Horner’s immediate dismissal from the team during the season, rather than at its conclusion, is due to the extent of the control he had over the F1 operation as a whole.

“Beyond Horner’s role as team principal of Red Bull, he was also CEO, head of powertrains, and had pretty much also exerted control over Racing Bulls and its marketing operation,” the report states.

“It is suggested that some within the wider Red Bull structure had become jealous and feared that the squad was rapidly becoming ‘Horner Racing’ rather than ‘Red Bull Racing’.”

Following the sacking, reports emerged of there being a tricky atmosphere in the Red Bull garage, with an insider noting that a ‘leadership void’ existed there and among the engineering team.

Efforts were made in recent works to ‘realign’ Christian Horner’s control at Red Bull

The report also suggests that efforts were made to delegate some of the power Horner had accumulated over recent years, mainly within the Red Bull Powertrains division, as well as within Red Bull’s sister team Visa Cash App RB.

“This could explain why there had been some subtle shifts in recent weeks to realign Horner’s sphere of control within the empire, pulling him away from areas that he had previously been in charge of,” the report continued.

“One idea was for Horner to move back towards a simple Red Bull team boss role, with someone else put in charge of powertrains.

“But Horner never saw his strength in simply being a team principal who ran operations at the track and reported into others.”

Following Horner’s departure from the team, it raises the question of where he will find himself next if he wants to stay in F1. He’s already on the radar of some teams, with Ferrari seeking a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to utilise the 51-year-old’s talents.