Red Bull shocked the F1 paddock after sacking team principal Christian Horner following an underwhelming British GP. The first half of the season has been difficult for Red Bull as they find themselves out of both championships after only 12 races.
Horner’s dismissal means Red Bull heads to a race weekend without the 51-year-old at the helm for the first time in 20 years. Speaking to the media ahead of the Belgian GP, Max Verstappen has given his thoughts on why Red Bull sacked Horner.
Max Verstappen says results cost Christian Horner his job at Red Bull
There has been much speculation about why Christian Horner lost his job at Red Bull. Reports claimed tensions behind the scenes with key members of the Red Bull family could be the answer. However, Max Verstappen has shared his thoughts on why Christian Horner lost his job at the Milton Keynes-based team.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Belgian GP, Verstappen said: “I think the last one and a half years have not gone how we would have liked, and management decided they wanted to steer the ship in a different direction, probably.
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“And then everyone else, of course, has to anyway agree to that and look forward.”
Red Bull’s results have dropped off following an almost invincible 2023 season, where they won all but one race. Halfway through 2024, McLaren and Ferrari overtook Red Bull as the fastest team on the grid, and they lost the constructors’ championship for the first time in the 2022 campaign.
This season, despite Verstappen winning two races in Japan and Italy, Red Bull is far off the pace. The second seat has only scored seven points all season, leaving the Austrian team 288 points behind the leaders, McLaren.
Can Laurent Mekies stop the Red Bull slide?
Laurent Mekies comes into Red Bull already part of the family. He was the team principal who replaced Franz Tost at Racing Bulls and made them more competitive again. This season, they are currently seventh in the championship and are in the fight to finish in the top 5 this campaign.
Mekies also worked with Yuki Tsunoda last season and at the start of this term. Last season was arguably Tsunoda’s best performance over a whole year, and he continued his form into 2025. Red Bull will hope Mekies can use his experience from last season and unlock Tsunoda’s true pace.
However, overall, Mekies won’t be able to improve the RB21 enough to make it much more competitive. Helmut Marko said that Red Bull is bringing upgrades to Belgium and Hungary, and they need to work. Mekies’ main role will be to focus towards the 2026 project and get acclimatised to how Red Bull works. For the rest of the 2025 season, judging Mekies would be unfair. However, next year, the pressure is on.
