F1 News: Christian Horner's 'huge pressure' moment that sparked Red Bull axe

Christian Horner

Christian Horner's 'huge pressure' moment that sparked Red Bull axe

Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull last year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 15 July 2026 18:45

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A Red Bull F1 insider has revealed the moment he believes the pressure leading to Christian Horner's shock firing reached its peak.

Horner was the team principal of Red Bull between 2005-2025, but his employment came to a rather abrupt end following the 2025 British Grand Prix, with Red Bull replacing him with Laurent Mekies.

It marked the end of a 20-year spell which saw Horner and Red Bull claim 14 world championship titles, and he has not held a role in the sport since. The end to Horner's reign was marred by tensions within the outfit.

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Horner had fallen out with advisor and Red Bull legend Helmut Marko, while he and Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen also had a rather public feud.

Horner was also accused in 2024 of alleged inappropriate behaviour by a female member of staff at the team. Horner strenuously denied the allegations, and was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal investigation.

His eventual sacking was purely performance-based, with Red Bull sat down in fourth in the constructors' championship at the time.

Now, an F1 journalist has revealed the exact moment things appeared to be going south for Horner at Red Bull.

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Matt Majendie is an F1 journalist who spent a lot of time with the Red Bull team, with his experiences now being documented in a book titled Inside Red Bull Racing: A season with F1's most thrilling team.

He was asked when it was that he thought Horner's time was up at the team, having spent the full 2025 season with them.

"I felt it was in Austria," Majendie told the Road to Success podcast. "So obviously he was removed from the team just after Silverstone. So you had Austria, then the British Grand Prix was the next race.

"But in Austria, the owners were both there from the Austrian side and the Thai side, and it really felt this sense of pressure really more noticeable than any other race.

"So there was extra iron on there. All the bosses are there, and that just felt huge that moment. I remember I was meant to be talking to Horner at some point, to do an interview with him post race, and he got whisked away up to the top floor.

"You know, the more important you are at Red Bull at the energy station, the higher you go. That's where the owners were when they're in a race, and so obviously he was called up to talk to them, and it felt something was amiss."