Martin Brundle has revealed the real reason Red Bull fired team principal Christian Horner.
Red Bull fired Horner shortly after the Silverstone Grand Prix. F1 fans were left in the dark, as the team gave no official reason, and Horner was not told why he was fired.
Horner took charge of Red Bull in 2005, leading them to six Constructors’ and eight Drivers’ Championships. He has been the team’s only ever team principal.
After over two weeks without an explanation for Horner’s sacking, Brundle revealed all.
Martin Brundle says Christian Horner lost a power struggle with Red Bull management
Speaking on Sky F1, Brundle said that he had spoken to both Horner and Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, in the lead-up to the Belgian Grand Prix.
Horner and the Verstappens have been on opposite sides of a Red Bull civil war in the last two years. But Brundle said that it wasn’t the Verstappens, but Red Bull’s management in Austria, that pushed for the decision.
He said, “I’ve had a long chat with Christian, I’ve spoken to Jos Verstappen, and we’ve heard from Max … it seems clear that it was a decision from Austria, it wasn’t the Verstappens asking for this.
“Jos Verstappen’s thrown a lot of hand grenades in, in the last 16 months, and some of them have gone off. He made it clear he thought Christian should move on from time to time.
“But it wasn’t about the Verstappens. It was the management in Austria looking to take back control of some of the commercial side of it.
“Christian didn’t want to let that go, because he thought in the round, the drivers, the cost cap, the sponsors, the employment of people was all one big story that he wanted to keep hold of, so they made that decision.”
Horner had been in charge of the team since their conception. It’s understandable that he would feel possessive over every aspect of the team, which he brought to the top of the mountain in Formula One.
But ultimately, he lost the power struggle and had no friends left in the building to stop it from happening.
Max Verstappen chose not to save Christian Horner’s job, says Martin Brundle
Brundle went on to say that while the Verstappens were not directly responsible for Horner’s firing, Max Verstappen had the power to prevent it.
He said, “Presumably, Max could have, if he’d wanted to, stopped it from happening. But he either chose not to or couldn’t. I’m going to assume that he chose not to stop Christian from being let go.”
Verstappen has been eyeing a Mercedes move for months, and reportedly met with Team Principal Toto Wolff in Sardinia. But Brundle said after his conversation with Jos Verstappen, he is now “certain” he will stay at Red Bull.
| Position | Drivers' Championship | Points |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | 234 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | 226 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | 165 |
| 4 | George Russell | 147 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | 119 |
He continued, “Max, yesterday, said it was all about having a fast car. I think it means he will now stay. I’m certain he will now stay at Red Bull in 2026 and see what happens. A conversation I had last night seemed to confirm that.”
That doesn’t stop a move to Mercedes for Verstappen in 2027. It seems the four-time world champion is waiting to see how the grid lines up after the regulation change in 2026 to make his move.