F1 News: Red Bull are in crisis and Christian Horner has a chilling theory about why

Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull are in crisis and Christian Horner has a chilling theory about why

This could be bad for Red Bull

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Saturday 11 July 2026 10:57 Updated: 18:44

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After two decades of glorious success Red Bull appears to be in the midst of an F1 crisis, and Christian Horner has a theory about why.

The energy drinks giant made waves in motorsport as Horner built up one of the most successful operations in F1 history, claiming eight drivers' championships and six constructors' titles after taking charge in 2005 following the takeover of the Jaguar team.

But now the team is at a crucial point in its evolution, struggling to keep pace with the grid's 2026 front runners and fighting desperately to hang onto its one remaining star asset.

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Four-time world champion driver Max Verstappen is currently pondering his future with an exit clause in his contract about to become active. He is being strongly linked with a move to McLaren.

Losing Verstappen would be disastrous for Red Bull, on the back of a worrying talent drain which has seen a galaxy of F1 stars leave in the past 24 months.

Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Helmut Marko and Rob Marshall are just some of the big names to exit stage left, while Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is headed to McLaren and chief engineer Paul Monaghan is rumoured to be joining Cadillac.

The biggest fish of all to leave Red Bull though was Horner himself, fired by the team just over a year to the day in July 2025.

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No Horner no party for Red Bull

The sacking of the 52-year-old Englishman did not appear (on the face of it at least) to hurt Red Bull immediately. On the contrary, the team's and Verstappen's fortunes improved in the second half of the 2025 season.

On to 2026 though and we see a very different story - Verstappen is seventh in the Drivers' standings and the team just cannot give him a car to challenge for wins.

Horner was asked about the current situation in Milton Keynes during an interview with The Times, and his response is a chilling one for all Red Bull fans.

He said: "Things usually take probably close to nine to 12 months to see change, so everything that happened last year, if I’d have been knocked over by a bus (and not replaced), it would have played out the same way.

"I can only be judged on what I did, so history will decide that (legacy), I guess. But I’m not looking for any plaudits. I’m happy in myself with what I was able to do.”

There is generally more than one way to read most statements, but the one that should worry Red Bull is this: Horner could be saying the 2025 bounceback was not some sort of Laurent Mekies-induced miracle, it would have happened anyway because the trajectory and structure was there to facilitate it.

What you can also take away is that only now are we really seeing the impact of Horner's departure, and if so it is a pretty seismic one. Things have not looked bleaker at Red Bull in two decades, and they appear to be heading in only one direction.

Verstappen won four world titles with Horner.

How great dynasties fall, what history tells us

Horner's comments also hold water when it comes to history - and not just in sports. Great dynasties do not always crumble overnight when a great leader leaves. Instead they gradually erode over time as the people, culture, structures and processes fade away.

The talent drain in Milton Keynes - a relentless revolving door of high-level F1 expertise - has only hastened that process. With Lambiase and Monaghan heading for the exit, it may not yet be over.

These are worrying times for Red Bull, they are a team very much at the F1 crossroads. What comes next will be a new era with Verstappen at the very centre as team leader. Or something which right now looks rather unappetising.

The next days and weeks will be crucial.

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Red Bull Christian Horner