Could someone explain the Horner/Red Bull situation please?

[alldressedupinblue]

I’m a very fair weather F1 fan. I mostly get my updates from watching Sky Sports or Drive to Survive.

so it’s been announced this morning that Christian Horner has left RedBull abruptly. Any F1 fan able to explain, please? Thanks in advance.

He was sacked apparently. No idea why 🤷‍♂️

There was a bit of controversy last year with him and another woman , but it seemed to fade away over time.

Red Bull are brutal. They're not having a good season and they have to blame someone...

No one knows anything. There were no rumours beforehand and a very bare announcement today. Red bull have thanked him do it isn’t something dreadful he has done.

My guess is that either Red Bull are desperately trying to keep Max from moving to Mercedes. Or Max has already moved and it was the final straw on Christian Horner given things aren’t going well for the team at the moment.

There was talk of inappropriate behaviour with female colleagues last year, I think bullying rather than sexual

Just got this notification from Sky Sports:

Christian Horner sacked by Red Bull: Martin Brundle assesses his departure, Max Verstappen's future and new CEO Laurent Mekies www.skysports.com/share/13394452

They wouldn’t have got rid of him for that (sadly). I think Max had given an ultimatum. They’re having a bad season, comparatively: binning off Liam Lawson after only a couple of races wasn’t a good look and Max isn’t doing that well.

Yeah I think it’s down to RB’s performance this season (Max isn’t going to win the world championship) and it’s known that Max and his father (ex F1 driver Jos Verstappen) don’t get on with Christian Horner. The inappropriate messaging hasn’t been CH’s downfall, but probably won’t have helped matters.

My information is mostly from this mornings’s Times by the way.

Thanks for all your replies. I suspect we’ll know more as the day unfolds….

Wasn't there dodgy pics sent from him? Pretty sure I read on tattle. Something like is that a thumb or his...? Type of thing 🤣

Could be for any number of reasons- it could be the price of keeping Max on the team, or a response to the fact that they've already lost Max , or just that the results are so much worse this year and he's lost an internal power struggle. Or there could even be be more allegations against him to come or there has been some determination in respect of the current allegations that we don't know about yet. I suspect performance/Max related is more likely though. Its pretty characteristic of Red Bull to sack drivers mid season for not performing to expectations so seems to be extending to the team principal now.......

The pictures were over a year ago and he was cleared during an internal enquiry. This will be about something else, a combination of the teams performance (Max is not even in the running for world champion this year and the 2 need car is dreadful) and politics (there are camps at red bull with very opposing views).

Sacking Liam was very expensive and turns out the problem wasn’t Liam or Checo, but the car.

It's definitely intersting timing with Helmut Marko making clear several times this year that he wants Seb Vettel brought into the team as a manager or advisor.

Some of you are clearly proper fans, so knowledgeable, thank you for updating.

They have lost half of the senior team in the past few months and RB have been doing shockingly. Maybe they think that CH wasnt actually the reason they were good and maybe it had something to do with all the people who used to work for him (that he has alienated).

He's wound up the Verstappens and had to go. Not that I like either of the parties involved in this.

I think its to do with Max wanting to leave and Jos (his dad) saying if he stays we go to Mercedes. Jos and Horner have hated each other for years! Its convenient he has gone a day after Toto got official permission to approach Max with an offer.

Also if Max goes, the team are screwed as the whole car and the new 2026 car has been built around him and his unique style of driving. You just have to look at all the drivers who have failed in the 2nd seat to see that no one else can drive the thing!

I’m intrigued that he got to make an “all hands” farewell speech yesterday. He wasn’t escorted from the building with a cardboard box and his pot plant …..

Their chief marketing officer and comms director have been punted along with Horner

It's a clearing of the decks of all things Horner it seems