Christian Horner links Red Bull exit to shift after Mateschitz’s death
Christian Horner says the end of his two-decade spell leading Red Bull Racing followed a change in the company’s leadership after founder Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022. In an interview published more than a year after his July 2025 dismissal, Horner said he was not given a specific explanation for the decision.
Horner led Red Bull through championship-winning periods with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, collecting six constructors’ titles and eight drivers’ championships. He said he believed the new Austrian leadership felt too much control rested with him, but rejected the suggestion that a falling-out with Max Verstappen or his father, Jos, was the direct cause.
Horner says the dismissal was painful and abrupt
Horner described the manner of his departure as especially difficult. Days before he was dismissed, Beverley Allen, his former partner and the mother of their daughter Olivia, died after battling eye cancer. He said he initially focused on supporting his daughter, who was grieving her mother, and did not fully process his own departure until about a month later.
He also pointed to the work he had invested in establishing Red Bull Powertrains. Horner said he had helped build the operation from a 400-person start-up into a 2,200-person organisation, making the abrupt end to his role harder to accept. He characterised the experience as painful and said the personal circumstances made the timing particularly sensitive.
Horner also questioned the way his exit was handled, arguing that other teams have endured difficult periods without dismissing leaders in the same fashion. He noted that Red Bull had taken pole position at the race immediately before his departure.
Horner says Mateschitz’s death changed Red Bull’s leadership
Horner placed responsibility for the decision on Red Bull, rather than on a driver dispute. He said the organisation’s leadership changed after Mateschitz’s death, and described the subsequent end of his tenure as a corporate decision.
Since leaving, Horner said he had found some peace away from Formula 1’s internal politics. He also reported that he had rebuilt a reasonable relationship with Oliver Mintzlaff, who called to thank him for laying foundations that contributed to Red Bull’s first fully independent engine victory in Bahrain.
His departure continues to draw attention to what comes next. F1LivePulse has followed Horner’s potential return to Formula 1 and his return to the paddock at Silverstone.
Simone Scanu
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.