Huge decision made as Christian Horner Red Bull team principal verdict issued

Red Bull Formula 1 team principal Christian Horner has been handed a huge verdict over his position at the former constructors' champions ahead of the 2025 season.

With less than three weeks to go until the first race of the year at the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull and Horner are heading to Bahrain to conduct pre-season testing with their new driver lineup.

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Horner and F1 advisor Helmut Marko have managed to retain the talent of four-time drivers' title holder Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman will be joined by new team-mate Liam Lawson at the Bahrain International Circuit this week after the junior driver received a promotion at the end of 2024.

Verstappen's former team-mate Sergio Perez failed to contribute positively to the team's constructors' campaign last year, with Red Bull only managing a third-place finish behind Ferrari and new champions McLaren.

The team's performance woes were responsible for just a fraction of Horner's worries last year however, after losing F1 design legend Adrian Newey to rivals Aston Martin and a number of additional major team personnel exits.

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Should Christian Horner still be Red Bull team principal?

GPFans recently conducted a poll asking F1 fans whether they thought Horner should remain in his role as Red Bull team principal, with the audience backing the 51-year-old to retain the job of the team's first and only principal in their F1 history.

Horner has remained in the role since Red Bull joined F1 in 2005, when he became the youngest team principal in the history of the sport.

After dominating both the driver's and constructors' championships in 2022 and 2023, not many fans doubted Horner.

Last year however, the mass exodus of staff at Red Bull triggered questions over his suitability for the role, with a further blow hitting the team when their sporting director Jonathan Wheatley announced he was also leaving to pursue a leadership role with Audi.

Despite the tumultuous year for Horner's team both on and off track, fans have stood by him when voting in the GPFans poll, with 64 per cent voting for the Red Bull boss to keep his position.

The result was hardly unanimous however, and after his appearance at the F1 75 Live launch last week, Horner clearly still has his doubters.

The Red Bull principal was booed significantly by the crowd during his first public appearance with the team, as was his star driver Verstappen.

In our recent poll, over a third of the voters preferred to see a change of leadership at Red Bull, but as they head into the upcoming season with major regulation changes on the horizon, the team appear confident in Horner's position.

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