Will Buxton breaks down Christian Horner’s Red Bull exit: “There is more at play here”

Former Formula 1 presenter and reporter Will Buxton has analysed Christian Horner’s exit from Red Bull as team principal and CEO.

Red Bull announced on Wednesday that Horner had been removed from the role with immediate effect. 

The timing and the abrupt nature of the move have raised eyebrows within the F1 paddock. Buxton, while discussing the news on The Fast and The Curious podcast, argued that the timing could indicate that there is more at play behind the scenes.

“I mean, wild in terms of the impact and in terms of the magnitude of it and yet not wild when you think of the last 18 months. And I think for a lot of people, there would be the question of why this hasn’t happened sooner and probably a lack of surprise that it has happened at all.

“The big shock is Christian, for the longest time, has been Red Bull. He’s the only team principal that team has ever known. He has led them through the good times, through the bad times for 20 years. So, it has to be more than a simple drop-off in performance.

“They’ve been there before. They’ve been through this before. So, there must be more. And there is more at play here. And I think that’s obvious to everyone.”

He added, “These things are usually rumoured. There’s usually chatter and talk within the paddock. So, the fact that it was on nobody’s radar will be… what is the big surprise here?

“I mean, look, where do you want to start? When Christian started out in Formula 1, he played the game incredibly well. He was and has always played the politics of Formula 1, perhaps better than anybody over the last 20 years. He aligned himself very early on with Bernie Ecclestone and that was a very key decision that he took and a very key and influential ally that he had in those early years.”

British motorsports journalist Will Buxton at the World Premiere of F1 The Movie

Photo by: Getty Images

Further exploring the reasons why Red Bull may have made this decision, Buxton explained the “number of factors” which could have contributed.

“The fascinating thing with this is because it happened so soon, there’s no official word about why this has happened. And so everybody is coming to, I think, the same conclusions, which is that there may be a number of factors in this.

“One is the fall-off in competition, and that fall-off in competitiveness for Red Bull comes not on the basis of another team doing better but quite simply the huge exodus of people over the last two seasons from technical roles moving to other teams. You know, Rob Marshall left to go to McLaren, Jonathan Wheatley left to go to Sauber (congratulations to them on the podium at Silverstone). They’ve lost Adrian Newey to Aston Martin.

“Did Christian replace those people with the right people? Was there the succession plan in place to keep Red Bull at the top? Arguably not, because the fall-off has been dramatic.

“There’s Christian’s own personal problems over the last 18 months. Well documented. And obviously not talked about as much as they could have been because of the nature of them and how litigious it all became. A lot of feeling at the time that would have led to his downfall, but he always had the Thai ownership on his side. What’s changed? Why are they no longer on his side?

“And at the base of all of this, over the last 18 months, has been this swirling talk that actually the people that wanted Christian out more than anybody were the Verstappens.”

Rumours have been circulating recently that Max Verstappen could be eyeing a move to Mercedes in 2026 after team chief Toto Wolff confirmed he was in talks with the four-time champion. Buxton believes that these talks could have been a move of leverage from Verstappen’s management.

“I put a tweet out saying there is politicking in this because for me, the Max-to-Mercedes thing doesn’t weigh up. It doesn’t make sense because I don’t think they’d want to get rid of George [Russell], and I don’t think they want to get rid of Kimi [Antonelli]. And if you do get rid of George and you put Max alongside Kimi, the prospect of destroying Kimi is vast.

“There are risks in employing Max. So, where have these rumours come from? And I believe there was some politicking in it because ultimately Toto isn’t Christian’s best friend. It’s interesting that suddenly Christian’s gone. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there have been negotiations behind closed doors.

“‘Max, what will it take to keep you here at Red Bull?’

“‘Oh, it’s quite easy actually. Could you get rid of Christian?’

“‘Of course, Max, whatever you want.’ And it’s done. Look, we don’t know. We don’t know what it is. But the fact that any one of those elements could have been what led to his downfall is the fascinating thing here.”

When asked by host Christian Hewgill if he felt it was the right decision for Red Bull to remove Horner, Buxton explained that although you couldn’t deny Horner of his success, it was the right decision.

“I think ultimately, yes it’s the right decision. It’s a decision that maybe could and arguably should have been made earlier. Is it the right decision for the right reasons at the right time? That’s an entirely different question because if the team now is at a point where… I mean look, the second driver equation has reached ludicrous proportions.

“Now, if this has been done solely to hold on to Max, and they hold on to Max, great. But where’s the basis for a return to competition and competitiveness and championship-winning? ‘Cause that’s not going to happen overnight. And that doesn’t happen just by shifting Christian.”

Horner has been replaced by Racing Bulls team chief Laurent Mekies, who Buxton was full of praise for.

“Laurent was phenomenal. He’s great. And what he’s done to turn around Racing Bulls and put them in a place of improved competitiveness is phenomenal. And let’s not forget Christian Horner got the job at Red Bull as a Formula 3000 team boss. He had no Formula 1 experience. But back then, you know, [Dietrich] Mateschitz said, ‘How much money do you need, Christian?’ And Christian said, ‘This much.’ And Dietrich said, ‘No problem.’ And that was it. You know, Dietrich held the purse strings. Christian made the decisions. Helmut Marko was there to advise. That was it. It was a simpler time.

“The death of Mateschitz can’t be overlooked in all of this either, because it became ruled by committee, not ruled by a monarch, you know. So everything had to get reasoned and argued and approved, and that wasn’t the system that Christian was used to.

“It’s a new world order at Red Bull, and it has been since Dietrich’s death. But I think it probably is the right thing and it had to change and you have to have somebody there who’s going to work within the new system, work with Mintzlaff. And I think somebody for the new direction of Red Bull that isn’t aligned with the past. So yeah, I think it is right. 20 years… we haven’t spoken about it, but an incredible run of success.

“But then there are certain things which end up catching up with you and you can’t escape those things. So, the right decision. Is it at the right time and for the right reasons? Time will tell. Is it enough to keep Max Verstappen at the team? Let’s see if those Max-Mercedes rumours disappear miraculously overnight.

“And let’s see how long it takes them to turn the ship around. But you cannot overstate how seismic this news is in Formula 1 terms.”