Christian Horner sacked: What does Red Bull’s decision mean for Max Verstappen future and team under Laurent Mekies?

Red Bull’s shock decision to sack Christian Horner will have major consequences as they begin a new era under Laurent Mekies.

Horner had been at the helm of Red Bull since the team joined F1 in 2005, so Mekies is filling huge shoes and himself admits “it would be impossible to underestimate” Horner’s achievements across the last 20 years.

For the first time in five years, Red Bull may not end the season with a championship as McLaren already have one hand on the constructors’ title and Max Verstappen is 69 points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.

Verstappen’s future will remain a big talking point at the next F1 race in two weeks at the Belgian Grand Prix from July 25-27. It is not clear whether Verstappen wanted Horner out, or if the sacking changes whether or not he sees his future at Red Bull – something the Dutchman will be asked about on media day at Spa-Francorchamps.

After Horner was sacked, Verstappen wrote on social media: “From my first race win, to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes. Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian!”

Verstappen more likely to stay?

Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen was involved in a public feud throughout last year following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner, which Horner denied. He was cleared after two internal investigations.

Jos said “Red Bull was falling apart” at the height of the allegations in March 2024 and threatened that Max could leave the team.

Later that year, the conflict reignited when Jos claimed Horner had effectively blocked him from taking part in the Legends Parade at the Austrian Grand Prix. Max said the situation was “not nice” and “could have been avoided”.

Despite his father’s personal battle with Horner, Verstappen never criticised the former team principal, instead choosing to focus on car performance.

That theme has continued recently with Verstappen avoiding questions about his Red Bull future but, interestingly, Horner was almost making a plea for the Dutchman to stay as he gave a lengthy answer in his final team bosses’ press conference at the British Grand Prix on next year’s 2026 regulation change, stating it would be “embarrassing” for Mercedes if Red Bull were ahead of them.

Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz interviewed Horner in the TV pen on the Friday of Silverstone and said: “Something Christian said to me after the team bosses’ press conference comes back to me. I said ‘are people guilty of worrying about something in F1 that they don’t know will definitely happen and he latched onto that immediately’, and he said ‘there’s no guarantee Mercedes will be the best engine next year, what people need to do is see what happens in 2026 then decide for 2027’.

“Then I thought ‘hang on, hasn’t Max got a contract for 2028?’ so why is Christian effectively trying to send a message to Max? Is this all a game about 2027, and if Oliver Mintzlaff thinks they have brought Max’s services for next year by getting rid of Horner, in 2027 they could have lost Verstappen and Horner, then be in an even worse place.”

Sky Sports News understands Verstappen has a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave Red Bull after this season, in the unlikely scenario he is not in the top four of the Drivers’ Championship at the start of the F1 summer break, following the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 3.

Verstappen is currently 46 points ahead of fifth-placed Charles Leclerc with only a possible 58 points available over the Sprint weekend in Belgium and Hungary.

“Max has often said he wants to see his career out at Red Bull if he can,” said Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle.

“Red Bull are debuting their own engine for the first time next year in what will be the biggest change in F1 history of car and power unit, at the same time. Christian has been in the driving seat of that aspect of the team completely.

“Max has an exit clause based on where he is in the World Championship at the end of this month. Does this mean he’s more likely to go or stay? I can only surmise it means he’s more likely to stay at the team.”

However, Dutch F1 journalist Erik van Haren says it’s “still not clear” Verstappen will stay at Red Bull with Horner no longer at the team.

“I think what’s most important for Verstappen is that the team is making steps with the car,” he told Sky Sports News.

“They have a lot of problems with this car. They want more performance and then they can make the decision: is this our team for the future, yes or no.

“I think this decision [with Horner] has been made to get more peace in the team but also maybe to say to Verstappen, maybe for you this is a good moment to stay.

“Maybe it gives Red Bull a better chance to keep him in the team but that’s not a guarantee at this point. I think he will make up his mind this month. They have two race weeks to go before the summer break, so he has a lot of time to think and also to see how the car is performing.”

So if Verstappen stays, Russell remains at Mercedes?

In short, yes. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says a decision will be made in the summer break over their 2026 driver line-up, which coincides with the closing of Verstappen’s exit clause over his championship position.

Wolff confirmed “conversations” were taking place behind closed doors with the Dutchman’s camp, which consists of his father, plus manager Raymond Vermeulen.

Verstappen is widely seen as the best driver in F1 and has proved over the last 12 months he can push an inferior car to pole positions, podiums and wins.

No driver is bigger than a team but one theory for Horner’s sacking is Verstappen’s camp used their leverage to provide Red Bull’s owners with an ultimatum of ‘Horner goes or Verstappen does’. If that theory is true, it means Russell will stay at Mercedes for 2026.

Kravitz said: “It has to be good news for George Russell as it eliminates one of the possible suitors for his seat but George will be asking questions of his own as to why Mercedes were courting Verstappen in the first place.

“Russell has been very successful at Mercedes. He’s won many races there, he bested Lewis Hamilton in two of the three seasons against him. He will be thinking ‘what more do I have to do’ but yes this will give George a little more room for confidence about his future at Mercedes.”

Red Bull begin a new era under calm Mekies

For the first time since 2004, Horner will not be in the F1 paddock at the next race in Belgium. His presence will remain in the background, but part of Red Bull’s decision to bring in Mekies is for change and to head in a new direction.

Red Bull are a team that divide opinion and part of that is down to Horner, who “played the politics of F1 very well” according to Sky Sports F1‘s Karun Chandhok.

“He always kept people on the right side when it came to the games with F1 and the FIA,” said Chandhok.

“Christian was prepared to lob those grenades out in the public, but also even behind the scenes. You would often see him having those quiet meetings with the Liberty Media bosses and things like that, which is a big job of being a team principal, trying to get your team into the right side and the right position.

“He did upset some people along the way. Let’s not forget that the reason they had to create their own engine company for 2026 is because nobody would supply them an engine.

“There were points where he fell out with certain people and he couldn’t get a Ferrari and he couldn’t get a Mercedes engine. There were issues at Honda, so they had to go down this path. Ultimately they will miss his experience, they will miss his leadership, but let’s see what the future holds.”

Mekies is a very different character, with a more conservative approach when speaking to the media, and does not lobby in public.

The Frenchman’s engineering background puts Red Bull in line with the likes of McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin who have previous technical leaders as team principals in Andrea Stella, James Vowles and Andy Cowell.

Horner’s push for Red Bull to build their own engines, Red Bull Powertrains, for the 2026 regulation change will put Mekies under pressure quickly if they are not fighting near the front next year.

Kravitz said: “What Red Bull won’t have, if it’s not going particularly well, is a racer with the experience that Christian Horner has.

“Remember the Renault years, when they weren’t winning because the Renault engine wasn’t good enough? He pressured Renault, he got on Cyril Abiteboul’s case, got on Renault’s back, and then they won again. When the empires do crumble, Horner knows how to build it up again, and that’s what Red Bull will miss.”

F1 takes a brief break before the season resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix as the Sprint format returns, live on Sky Sports F1 on July 25-27. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.