Red Bull CEO Finally Explains Why Christian Horner Was Sacked

Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff finally explains why Christian Horner suffered from a brutal Red Bull exit amid the team's struggles in 2025.

Red Bull CEO Finally Explains Why Christian Horner Was Sacked

Christian Horner (via F1)

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Christian Horner suffered from a brutal Red Bull exit despite serving the team loyally for over two decades. The Englishman was fired following a string of controversial situations during his leadership at Milton Keynes. Though the team never revealed the exact reason, Red Bull’s CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, has finally broken the silence on the matter and explained why Horner was snubbed from the squad.

Red Bull’s performance in the 2025 season deteriorated miserably, despite dominating a majority of the ground-effect era. Although Christian Horner had been in the team since 2005, his expertise did not help the team achieve a comeback in results. As such, the leadership of the team was changed, with Laurent Mekies filling in the empty spot.

Despite Christian Horner’s long history with Red Bull, overseeing eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships, the team decided it was time to let him go. Oliver Mintzlaff accepted that the 52-year-old had a great track record in terms of results. Mintzlaff pointed out that even though Horner wasn’t let off easily, everyone in the team appreciated him for all his achievements so far.

Christian has a fantastic track record with the team and achieved a great deal of success, Everyone here at the company, myself included, appreciates him for what he’s done.

Oliver Mintzlaff told De Telegraaf

However, Oliver Mintzlaff noted that Red Bull was a professional organization, and they couldn’t rely on only history. The team’s current state was drastic under Christian Horner, and hence, change was certainly required.

Mintzlaff revealed that the team believed it was the right time to turn the page and start a new chapter for the constructor. The CEO accepted that the decision certainly wasn’t easy, but he reassured that it wasn’t made overnight either.

But this is also part of a professional organisation. You can’t keep relying on history, and we felt it was time to turn the page and start a new chapter. That wasn’t an easy decision, but we didn’t make it overnight either.

Oliver Mintzlaff added.

Oliver Mintzlaff claims firing Christian Horner ‘not a risk’

Many people believed that Red Bull might crack under pressure and not be able to recover from the performance slump, especially after Christian Horner’s dismissal. However, Laurent Mekies knew just the right thing to do at the Austrian constructor and helped them return to their winning ways. The Frenchman overturned the team’s performance completely after the summer break and helped Max Verstappen achieve a massive comeback in results.

Christian Horner and Max Verstappen
Christian Horner and Max Verstappen (via Total Motorsport)

As such, Oliver Mintzlaff recalled the moment and assured that it wasn’t a risk to fire Christian Horner at the time. The Red Bull CEO reassured that he was a 100% onboard with the decision, and so was the entire team.

The squad was aware that they had to make radical changes in order to achieve an out of their struggles. Mintzlaff noted that he wasn’t a ‘hire and fire-manager’ who simply let go of the people who led the constructor in Formula 1.

I wouldn’t call it a risk, because we were 100% behind this decision, Because we knew we had to do something. I’m not a so-called ‘hire-and-fire manager’, someone who just fires people.

Oliver Mintzlaff noted.

Red Bull even made more changes to their squad after letting go of the advisor, Helmut Marko. Though the Austrian helped rake in many talented individuals to Formula 1 and Milton Keynes, he still decided to leave after a tough campaign in the 2025 season. As such, the coming regulations will be a big unknown for the Austrian constructor, but with their current squad, they will surely bounce back well.

Read More: Ferrari Plots to Make Major Change to Lewis Hamilton’s Team After Embarrassing 2025 Season