Martin Brundle discusses Horner’s surprise exit from Red Bull, the future of star driver Max Verstappen, and the team’s prospects following the change in leadership.
In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Brundle talked about his reaction to today’s surprise news of Christian Horner’s immediate dismissal as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing.
Horner was at the helm of Red Bull for over two decades, leading the team to six Constructors’ Championships and eight Drivers’ Championships.
Given Horner’s key role in Red Bull’s success and the current struggles of the team, the news came ‘out of the blue’ for Brundle.
Horner’s exit a surprise for Brundle
Brundle lauds Horner for the job he has done over the last 20 years, while conceding that things haven’t been ‘rosy’ at the Milton Keynes-based team recently.
“I think it’s completely out of the blue, given things that are going on and the sort of problems in the team, words you’re getting out of team Verstappen and others.
“I’m quite sad about it, if I’m honest.
“I consider Christian [Horner] a friend, and he’s done an incredible job there for 20 years, won an awful lot of races and world championships for drivers and for the team.
“He took it from what was the Stewart team through Jaguar, and it was struggling to a massive campus in Milton Keynes, and an awful lot of success and a huge trophy cabinet.
“But it’s not been difficult to feel in the F1 paddock and to observe and to hear that things were not particularly rosy.”
Potential reasons for Horner’s dismissal
Christian Horner’s role within Red Bull has been the subject of speculation ever since allegations of inappropriate behavior were made against him ahead of the 2024 F1 season.
“I think that’s probably part of it,” says Brundle when questioned whether the allegations played into the decision to drop Horner.
Although internal investigations cleared Horner, the accusations are said to have strained the relationship with Red Bull’s star driver, Max Verstappen, and his camp.
This, along with a drop in performance, may have contributed to the surprising decision, says Brundle.
“I believe it’s probably performance-related as well.
“I don’t know.
“Perhaps it makes it more likely that Verstappen will stay there.
“I think that became quite personal in, shall we call it, team Verstappen.
“So, I think there are a number of aspects, but particularly that the car is struggling.
“Although they’ve won races this year, of course.
“They’ve won races brilliantly this year.”
Horner was given no reason
Brundle was unable to speak to Red Bull’s former leader ahead of his interview with Sky Sports F1, but had expressed his sadness over the news to Horner via text.
What Brundle could reveal, though, was that Horner was given no reason for his dismissal from Red Bull.
“I’m due to speak to Christian a bit later in the day.
“I put a message through to him to say, ‘Sorry to read that’.
“In fact, I said to him, ‘Can we have a chat before I have to go on TV?’
“Because I want to know more about it from his point of view, and he wasn’t able to do that.
“What he did say to me was that no reason was given to him as to why he’s been released.
“So, that’s the only part of information I have on that.
“But nothing’s forever.”
New Red Bull leadership
The dismissal of Horner sparked a shift within the organization, as Laurent Mekies, who led sister team Racing Bulls, moved to the main team as new CEO and team principal.
Alan Permane, who previously held the position of sporting director at Racing Bulls, has been promoted to team principal.
A solution that was implemented promptly following Horner’s exit, says Brundle.
“Things move on, and Red Bull has already put in place significant changes.
“Laurent Mekies comes over from Racing Bulls, their junior team sister team.
“Alan Permane takes over the reins there.
“So, they very quickly put into place solutions.”
Brundle on Red Bull’s future with Mekies at the helm
With Laurent Mekies, Red Bull has brought in an experienced leader who has already demonstrated his capabilities at sister team Racing Bulls as well as the FIA and Ferrari.
Sharing similar backgrounds with McLaren’s Andrea Stella and Williams’s James Vowles, Brundle believes that Mekies can go down a similarly successful path as F1 moves more and more away from the ‘maverick’ leadership style of the past.
Brundle also muses that Jonathan Wheatley, who recently moved from Red Bull to Sauber, would have been keen to take over from Horner.
“A lot of experience at Ferrari, in teams, at the FIA.
“And we’re seeing this more and more now.
“I mean, look at the incredible job, for example, Andreas Stella’s doing at McLaren as team principal, with James Vowles at Williams, people with a technical background, a team background, sort of in the driving seat of that aspect of, as I said, what’s a massive organisation now.
“Laurent [Mekies], I think, has done a great job at Racing Bulls.
“And clearly, they’ve seen that within the Red Bull group and immediately moved him over.
“Jonathan Wheatley, who I think would have fancied that job big time, has moved to Switzerland to join the Sauber team, which will become the Audi team.
“And I think the fact that he fancied Christian’s [Horner] job, perhaps expedited that, may I say.
“But yeah, so this is what we’re seeing now.
“And then Alan Permane, who’s taken over from Laurent Mekies at Racing Bulls, huge amount of experience on the operational side of a Formula One team, rather than, as I say, that sort of maverick leader, as it were.”
Implications on Max Verstappen’s future with Red Bull
With Max Verstappen frequently being connected to a potential drive at rival team Mercedes, Red Bull’s decision naturally renews the speculation of the reigning Champions’ future with the team.
Brundle feels that Horner’s exit will make it more likely that Verstappen will remain with the team, despite an unclear future regarding the 2026 regulation change and, more importantly, the introduction of Red Bull’s power unit.
“Well, it remains to be seen. I mean, every point, podium, victory, and world championship Max [Verstappen] has through his own genius driving, it must be said, is in a Red Bull car.
“And he often states he wants to see his career out there if he can.
“They are debuting their own engine for the first time next year, and what is going to be the biggest change in F1 history of car and power unit at the same time.
“So, you know, Christian’s been in the seat and driving that aspect of the team along completely.
“We know that Max has an exit clause based on where he is in the world championship at the end of this month.
“Does this mean he’s more likely to go, more likely to stay?
“I can only surmise that he’s more likely to stay on the team.”
Impact of Horner’s Red Bull exit
Horner’s dismissal represents the first massive shift in leadership since Red Bull’s inception in 2005 and begs the question of how it will impact the team moving forward.
Brundle believes that the team will not feel the immediate impact of Horner’s departure because they have built momentum, established strong structures, and have capable people in place to compensate for the loss.
“Obviously, we’re, you know, through the season at the moment as well, just off the back of the British Grand Prix.
“You’ve got a couple of weeks before you go again.
“The people that they’re putting in place have got a lot of experience in F1, and the sort of maverick team boss is that era, teams are so big now, that era is moving away.
“It’s more a collection of specialists in different management roles rather than one team talisman out there, if you like.
“So, you know, there’s momentum, incredible momentum in these teams.
“There were well over 1,000 people making two racing cars to go around the circuit 24 times a year.
“That’s obviously underplaying the incredible complexity of an F1 season.
“I don’t see the team not going to fall over immediately because, as I said, they’ve got momentum structures in place, people in place.”
“And, you know, we’ll see.”
The death of Mateschitz started Red Bull’s struggles
Over the past two years, Red Bull has lost several of its high-ranking personnel, including Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, and Jonathan Wheatley.
The changes in key positions dealt a significant blow to the team, which had been the model of stability since its founding 20 years ago.
Brundle feels that after the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, things started to go wrong.
“I mean, this all really, for me, this all goes back to Dietrich Mateschitz, the originator, the 49% owner of Red Bull, who started it together with the Yoovidhyas family, back in the day.
“And he was in charge.
“Nothing happened without Dietrich Mateschitz, you know, signing the offer.
“He was the absolute leader of that group.
“I think since you’ve seen, since his death and all sorts of other people and structures coming in, you can see where it all started to go wrong, frankly.”
