Horner’s Gone, Max Might Be Next. Red Bull Are Playing with Fire
Christian Horner’s dismissal leaves Red Bull scrambling, Verstappen unsettled, and Formula 1 with a power vacuum that could reshape the sport.
He built an empire and then got kicked out of the castle. Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s boss for two decades, was relieved of his duties with barely a warning shot from what we can tell.
One minute, he’s the longest-serving team principal in the paddock, credited with eight constructors’ titles and a billion-dollar marketing machine. Next, he’s giving an emotional farewell at Milton Keynes while the sport collectively raises an eyebrow and mutters, “What now?”
The official reason? A vague restructuring. The real story is messier. The team is underperforming. The Max Verstappen-Horner axis is fractured. The fallout from last year’s scandal, where Horner was investigated for inappropriate behaviour, never truly dissipated. And crucially, Red Bull have lost the man who was their glue, their frontman, their shield. There’s no soft landing here. This wasn’t succession planning, it was a rupture.
You could argue it started months ago, when Adrian Newey quietly packed up his notebooks and walked. Or maybe it was when Jonathan Wheatley exited. Or when Max Verstappen started scanning the Mercedes garage with interest. Either way, this moment was always coming. You don’t stack that much internal tension without eventually triggering the collapse.
For Horner, this is a monumental career blow unless he finds a way to reinvent himself quickly. He was once the boy wonder of British motorsport, winning titles with the same charm and cunning he used to defend Red Bull in press conferences.
But there’s no clear redemption arc now. He’s not young enough to rebuild, probably not neutral enough for FIA roles, and I would imagine too politically radioactive for rival teams. He could pivot to punditry, set up shop as an advisor, or disappear altogether. Either way, the most powerful man in F1 just became the sport’s most high-profile free agent, with no clear path to land.
But this isn’t just about Horner. The real crisis sits behind the wheel.
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Max Verstappen signed a deal through 2028, but nobody in the paddock believes that contract is bulletproof. Performance clauses exist. Loyalty, in F1, is conditional. And Verstappen has already hinted—publicly and privately—that if the power unit gamble Red Bull are making for 2026 backfires, he’ll walk.
Mercedes has been sniffing. Ferrari is stabilising. Aston Martin is planning their own play. And now Max’s mentor is gone. The man who protected him from the politics, who brokered the deals and kept the internal machine humming, has been replaced.
Laurent Mekies is now in charge. Capable? Absolutely. Respected? Mostly. But this is Red Bull, not AlphaTauri. It’s a factory team with a $400 million engine programme, a championship-calibre driver, and a fragile political ecosystem.
Mekies is being asked to lead not just a technical team, but a global brand that sells 11 billion cans of energy drink a year off the back of F1 dominance. He has no runway. There’s no honeymoon period. He either convinces Max to stay and wins in 2026, or the entire house of cards risks folding.
This is where things get real. Red Bull Powertrains, backed by Ford, is due to debut its first engine in the new era of 2026 regulations. Every rival knows this is the moment of maximum vulnerability. If Red Bull nails it, they extend their reign into the next decade. If they miss, if the engine underdelivers, if Verstappen bails, and if sponsor confidence becomes fragile, they're no longer a superteam. They’re a very expensive marketing experiment.
There’s also the wider brand reality. Red Bull doesn’t operate like Ferrari or Mercedes. There’s no 100-year heritage to fall back on, no family crest. Their credibility was built through dominance, Sebastian Vettel in the early 2010s, Max Verstappen post-2021, and through Horner himself, who became the face of the operation long before the Netflix era. Without him, the team needs a new voice, a new strategy, and possibly, a new identity. Because you can’t outspend your way out of culture.
And let’s not forget the money. F1 is booming commercially, but Red Bull’s model has always been precarious. Their success was subsidised by dominance. Sponsors loved them because they won. Media platforms championed them because they had storylines.
That only works while you’re the main character. If they slip to the midfield, the entire operation, from influencer marketing to energy drink sales, feels a little less bulletproof. You don’t sell cool by finishing fifth.
Some insiders believe this could be a long-overdue reset. Horner’s style, brash, insular, and ruthless, can be seen as outdated among the new younger demographic entering the sport. A post-Horner Red Bull could become a more modern, more open, and more resilient environment. But you still have to build a car. You still have to win races.
If you’re Max Verstappen, you’re playing chess now. You’ve built your legacy. You’ve broken records. You’ve carried this team. The question is whether Red Bull can carry you into the future or whether your future is somewhere else. It’s not just about engines or egos anymore. It’s about legacy management. About not wasting your prime on a team caught in transition.
Horner’s exit wasn’t just an HR update. It was a warning. Dynasties aren’t permanent. The people who build them don’t always get to sustain them. One of the most dominant teams in recent years just lost its architect, its translator, its emotional core. And now, the biggest question in F1 isn’t whether Max Verstappen will win again. It’s whether Red Bull can survive what looks like a very unstable situation.
Thanks for reading, David Skilling.
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great article Txs