LONDON — Christian Horner has suggested he was perceived to have "too much influence over the team" before Red Bull sacked him as team principal in July 2025, lifting the lid on his departure in an exclusive interview with Autosport. The former boss said the company wanted to go in a different direction following a fractious power struggle that intensified after the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
“I think the company just wanted to go in a different direction, or perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team,” Horner said. “And, of course, life after Dietrich [Mateschitz] had passed was quite different within the group.” Horner was chosen by Mateschitz to lead the transformation of the team following the takeover of the Jaguar outfit and the pair were close allies throughout their partnership.
Horner oversaw Red Bull’s transformation into two eras of domination in Formula 1, firstly with Sebastian Vettel and four consecutive world drivers’ and world constructors’ titles between 2010-13 and then with Max Verstappen with four world drivers’ championships and three world constructors’ crowns between 2021-24. Amid an internal investigation over allegations of inappropriate behaviour and an appeal — both of which cleared Horner’s name — a fractious power struggle unfolded at Red Bull in 2024, with high-profile departures including Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley as results declined going into 2025.
Horner paid tribute to Mateschitz, whose death in October 2022 is widely considered to have started the power struggle, with the brand’s board overseen by chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff looking to take more control over F1 operations and away from Horner’s remit. “He was Red Bull. All the significant decisions were going through him, he built that business from nothing in a great partnership with the Yoovidhya family,” Horner said, referring to Red Bull’s other co-owners alongside Mateschitz.
“Dietrich was passionate about racing, cars, he loved the drivers, he loved all forms of motorsport," Horner added. "It's easy to underestimate what he actually has done for the world of motorsport, so inevitably when you lose a founder like that it leaves a void and it's just different. He was very good to me, he gave me the chance, he believed in me and he gave me the freedom to operate the business and I'll forever be grateful to him for that.” Horner said the organisation became markedly different afterwards, adding: “Suddenly there was a lot more committee and corporately-driven [management] than perhaps a one-man founder and the decision-making process that we'd become accustomed to.”