Throwing Christian to the lions

By Aiden McLaughlin

There’s not too many bosses in sport that last 20 years. 

You’re looking at a select group; Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Belichick, Gregg Popovich, Craig Bellamy…there are more I’m sure, but Christian Horner is alongside them. He is the only team principal Red Bull have had until now, taking the job as a 31-year-old when they joined the F1 grid in 2005, after the Jaguar team was bought out. 

But all good things eventually come to an end. Sometimes, these long standing performers get to leave the stage on their own terms, but sometimes not. 

In Horner’s case, it looked like his time might have been up last year when he faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague. Although Red Bull investigations conducted by an external lawyer cleared him of any wrongdoing, not once, but twice, the case is ongoing. The employee in question has now filed a complaint with the British employment tribunal, which will handle the case unless a settlement is reached before January 2026.

Putting that to one side, it is time for him to exit the stage, as Red Bull’s performance on the track has deteriorated drastically. Key personnel have left the organisation in recent years; Adrian Newey may have been the most high profile, joining Aston Martin after being courted by multiple teams, but Rob Marshall joined McLaren last year (he’s now their chief designer) and Jonathan Wheatley became Sauber’s team principal in April this year. 

McLaren have also added Red Bull strategy chief Will Courtenay to their ranks, appointing him to the role of sporting director, a position which he is expected to start next year.

After Max Verstappen won his first of four drivers championships in 2021, Red Bull became the dominant team in the sport, winning the constructors titles in 2022 and 2023, to go alongside the four they’d won between 2010 and 2013 (alongside Sebastian Vettel’s four driver’s championships).

But in 2024, they finished third, despite Max Verstappen again winning the world title. Sergio Perez’s form fell off a cliff, with the Mexican finishing 8th in the championship, having finished 2nd in 2023. 

Horner tried to stop Perez’s decline by giving him a new contract in June 2024 until (at least) the end of the 2026 season; the hope was that this would give Perez confidence. It didn’t work and he scored just nine points in the last eight races last year before Perez was dismissed with a sizeable payoff, estimated to be Euro 18m.

Liam Lawson was the immediate beneficiary, taking Perez’s seat, but that was short lived, even by Red Bull standards, as he was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda after just two race weekends.

Tsunoda though, has failed to improve the fortunes of the second seat, scoring points in just three of his ten races (finishing ninth once and tenth twice).

Despite Verstappen being unable to mount a serious challenge for a fifth world title, he has continued to show the world why he is the best driver on the grid – but by doing so he has also highlighted just how bad the car is. Perez, Lawson and Tsunoda may not be in his class, but very few are, and it’s clear the car is pretty much undrivable by anyone other than the Dutchman.

So with that being the case, the question is why? Why can no-one else drive it? Ultimately the buck for that has stopped with Horner and it’s on the back of the key personnel departures, the allegations, the Perez payoff, the ditching of Lawson and the general deterioration of results. Max Verstappen being openly courted by Mercedes hasn’t helped either.

It must be hard when you’ve been at the top for so long and have so much experience. Horner probably felt like he could turn things around, but he had developed blind spots. Now the team have made the call to end it on their terms, rather than on his. 

I certainly don’t think it’s the end of Horner in F1, unless he wants it to be. He can start again elsewhere. Perhaps it’ll be at somewhere like Alpine which has been underachieving for many years. Ferrari is a rumour that might end up having some substance. Maybe Cadillac can find a role for him to assist their entry into the sport next year. But for now, it’s time for a break. After 20 years, it’s probably a good thing for all concerned.