Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps – Since its debut in 2005, Red Bull has arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix without Christian Horner, a storm of uncertainty.
The timing of the British Grand Prix is shocking, and while his tenure with the team seems to be a ticking timing bomb, adding brawls and political tensions behind the scenes, Horner is shocking in timing. This has since occupied the news cycle. Max Verstappen spoke with the media at a crowded meeting at the hotel unit in Red Bull on Thursday, with new team owner Laurent Mekies to speak to the media on Friday.
It is worth noting that the levels above Verstappen and Mekies have been silent. A key figure in Horner's shock was Oliver Mintzlaff, an Austrian executive and head of the broader Red Bull sports division, whose offer was accompanied by a press release, confirming the news. Mintzlaff is expected to arrive at Spa-Francorchamps Paddock on Friday, but so far he is reluctant to explain the decision with any ability.
Some key issues regarding the new era of teams have not been resolved.
Max Verstappen was roasted by the media at the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday. Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Has Horner been fired?
While Horner's departure has been the front and center of the media, there has not yet been formal reasons for the broader Red Bull company, which has made the decision.
It's easy to speculate on reasons: recent news reports of Verstappen leaving, the increasing political tension between Horner and Red Bull Racing adviser Helmut Marko, the lingering animosity between Horner and Max's father Jos, Red Bull's stuttering results on the race track, or the loss of key figures in recent years such as the legendary Adrian Newey (to Aston Martin), car designer Rob Marshall (to McLaren) and former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley (Sol/Audi project). It is even easier to propose that a combination of all these factors plays a role.
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There are no official comments and speculation will continue. The pressure seems to have shifted to the wider Red Bull company (formally known as Red Bull GmbH) to provide solid reasons why Horner was let go and why it suddenly appeared. Several sources ESPN said expressed a similar feeling: Why now? Other sources on the team themselves told ESPN that Horner was furiously received by many of the ranking members, especially without any explanation.
While often painted like a pantomime villain outside (Horner's role in the media loves to develop), it's clear that he's very popular in most racing teams, including most racing teams (including large segments whose work is based on factories) until the end. This is no surprise for a man who leads the team from its founding to its 21st season and oversees the victory and championship of its game. It might be easier to sell without giving a six-month explanation to the team boss – but when his tenure spanned twenty years, many thought it had to be coming.
Verstappen's comments on Thursday were significant. The four-time world champion said he had expressed his opinions to the “shareholders” who told him – but those opinions will remain private. Sources confirmed to ESPN that most Red Bull GmbH shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya flew to Monaco to visit Verstappen and told him personally that the decision was the night before the publication. While the hatred between Horner and Vestapon’s father has been well documented, Vestapon said Thursday that the British were like his “second family” and that he has been informed that he has sent many messages to his former boss since then.
Yoovidhya has been a long-time supporter of Horner, but his own position has clearly changed over the past few months – perhaps because of the factors already mentioned and the pressure on owning 49% of the Austrian business, which owns a 49% stake in order to remove him from his position. The biggest voices outside Mintzlaff seem to be Jos Verstappen and Marko, who have played a lot behind the scenes in recent seasons.
Sources told ESPN that the broader Red Bull company, formally known as Red Bull GmbH, had limited aspirations to make formal reasons. Sources on the team told ESPN not to expect any detailed statements from company executives, nor to clarify the sequence of events that led to Horner's dismissal. It's a weird way to fire a man who might be synonymous with Red Bull racing like anyone else.
Laurent Mekies stepped in to replace Christian Horner and spoke to the media on Friday. Bradley Collyer/PA Images by Getty Images
Are Mekies a long-term appointment?
New Red Bulls principal and CEO Laurent Mekies inherited two roles from Horner, which shows that he was initially working as a power job in a seat and could do what he likes. The reality may be slightly different.
Mekis knows well both internally and externally, both in terms of his pedigree as the team boss. The Frenchman received many glowing comments at other media conferences on Thursday, including former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Mekies, Mattia Binotto's deputy boss at Ferrari, then took over Red Bull's teenage team early last year, and has quickly improved his rankings over the past decade.
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The sharp contrast between Mekies and Horner backgrounds is worth noting. Horner was a failed racing driver who transitioned to team managers, but Mekies had an engineering background and cut teeth into Minardi Team Red Bull, who bought midway through the 2000s, to convert to its small team, initially changing its brand to Toro Rosso. As a curious side note, his appointment changed the feeling of ongoing talk about Red Bull's search for a valid partner; Mekies has worked with Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson over the past 18 months, and three have high ideas about him. His ability to connect with drivers at a technical level may be the ability Tsunoda struggles to save his career on top teams. “He knows the driver very well,” Seinz said Thursday. “He has a special feeling and a special communication with the driver, which I think makes the driver very comfortable and very open to the driver at least.”
Aside from the driver's decision, Mekies' immediate work will be to correct Red Bull's recent slideshow. The external hype about Verstappen leaving Mercedes in 2026 seems to be overstated, and next year's new engine project The ongoing projects around new engine projects could play a bigger role in whether the Dutchman is in a season outside of the season, rather than anything Mekis can do behind the scenes. As Verstappen pointed out on Thursday – Horner's departure has no effect on his longer future, but the fast car will.
This is itself an unknown number under Mekies. One of Horner's huge strengths in his role is delegating it to someone below him – he largely lets the technology department operate independently because it knows it's not his area of expertise. During the 2023 success period, Horner regularly praised technical director Pierre Wache. Mekies’ technical background is a key part of his leadership at the Racing Bulls, but how to receive any intervention from above into the Red Bull Racing Technology Division.
Then there is the business aspect of Mekies' obvious new position. Sources of knowledge about conferences confirmed to ESPN that the critical moment of the past few weeks was a conversation between Horner and Mintzlaff during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Mintzlaff told Horner they wanted to dilute his enjoyment of business oversight for a while, moving it back to the Austrian business aspect supervised by Mark, son of Dietrich Mateschitz. Last month, Mintzlaff seemed unlikely to have a conversation with Horner, just giving Mekies the same range when the chance to click the reset button.
So while Mekies brings different approaches and knowledge in terms of technology, his lineage on the commercial part of the business is unknown and untested. Horner, by contrast, is a savvy trader – he has attracted champion sponsor Oracle and technology partner Ford over the past few years. From a business perspective, it is difficult to see Mekies have the same appeal. From talking to sources in both teams over the past two weeks, it’s clear that Red Bull Racing has finally appointed a CEO or something like that to focus on the business side of the business. This will fit the structure of Mekies just from: He is a replacement for Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane, who will answer the team CEO Peter Bayer like Mekies.
What will the Red Bull look like after training?
Mintzlaff-Horner's conversation has been brewing for some time. Marko, Mintzlaff and Mark Mateschitz are all increasingly frustrated that Red Bull Racing lost its identity when he joined Formula 1 in 2005 – the team is willing to do things differently and become more interesting while also beating its competitors. This feeling is only enhanced in the latest success cycle the team enjoys.
Multiple sources in both teams repeat the same thing: Internally, the junior team is seen as a more interesting workplace, while all the success of the leadership team on track has gradually turned into a sleek corporate winning machine with little fundamental disagreement with the competitors at the front of the grid. It remains to be seen how many Red Bull racing cars can turn backwards to this mentality. Some sources told ESPN that Red Bull GmbH was frustrated with headlines caused by hatreds like Horner’s frequency with McLaren’s Zach Brown and Mercedes’ Toto Wolf.
F1 fans and media may move from Mekies-led Red Bull, but wider existing questions about Red Bull Racing’s basic DNA remains unanswered. Eventually, time will tell.