Christian Horner has been sacked as Red Bull's team principal and CEO; that in itself is an era-defining decision from the company.
For just over two decades, Horner has helped to steer a drinks company, that brought Jaguar, to become the sport's benchmark.
His ability to get the legendary Adrian Newey on board and give him the creative freedom and influence to design some of the greatest F1 cars from the last 20 years; his ability to turn the team into a ruthless operation; his ability to harness the very best from his people, that is a sign of a great team boss. A championship-winning boss.
“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” said CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments at Red Bull, Oliver Mintzlaff.
“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1.
“Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history.”
Of course it has not been perfect, and his leadership has been under scrutiny since the misconduct saga, that he was cleared of, during the early phase of 2024. But, if you ignore the acrimonious ending, the sport's recent history would look very different without his leadership.
14 championships (six constructors' titles and eight drivers' titles) since 2010 is the mark of a definitive figurehead whose influence and greatness shall be marked in the history books.
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Where this all began
Max Verstappen crossed the line to win the 2022 United States Grand Prix, having remarkably recovered from a slow pit stop to pass Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for the win. It was a definitive win, too.
That day Red Bull won their first constructors' championship for nine years, but it was not a weekend without consequence. The drinks company's founder and co-owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, had passed away.
This sent shockwaves throughout the organisation. The Austrian's passion and commitment to success in the sport, was paralleled by his genius in giving the right personnel the right amount of space to succeed.
It also trembled the existing leadership structure at the company, which had worked so well, to eventually the point of chaos.
With Mateschitz's passing, a tension was birthed within the hierarchy: who has the power at Red Bull? This yielded insight into where the alliances were.
Horner's loyalties laid with the Thai side of the organisation, which formerly owned a majority stake in the organisation. However, long-time peer Helmut Marko (who was a very close friend of Mateschitz) has his loyalties with the Austrian side of the organisation, which is where it is believed the Verstappen camp have their loyalties too.
Inevitably, this has created friction within the team and even yielded a demand from Jos Verstappen to sack Horner. When such a focal point in the driver's management is saying this, it is difficult to overcome.
This is particularly true when Max Verstappen said the removal of Helmut Marko would open the possibility of him also leaving the team, but such an eventuality with Horner would not, perhaps making his position untenable.
But since the start of 2024, it has simply been a vicious cycle. The team's competitiveness has declined; key figures have left; more threaten to leave and none of this has helped to re-establish strong harmony (or anything enjoyed before the Autumn of 2022).
Evidently, Horner's personal scandal set this cycle into overdrive, but the real turning point started on that weekend in October of 2022. Everything that has happened since has exacerbated the decays that were created from the founder's death.
What next?
The timing of the decision is odd (halfway through a season) and suggests that not just one reason has contributed to the decision.
The heart of the team, Verstappen, has more than tinkered with the idea of leaving. The development path is not yielding improvement, and faith has been lost across various factions of the board. A recent change in ownership structure has been made and the team's second-seat situation has been a mess.
Something had to change, though Horner's sacking will not confirm a return to past glory. Laurent Mekies has been promoted from Racing Bulls, to take over as CEO and team boss (with Alan Permane filling his vacancy), but his arrival will not suddenly make the RB21 quicker.
It could also be argued that it risks damaging their Ford partnership for next season's new regulations. This is not because of Mekies' character, it is just merely the absence of continuity and Horner's commitment to the project, which will not be realised as intended.
Therefore, this decision may not affect Verstappen's short-term commitments (if his decisions are set to be motivated purely by car competitiveness) but it is clear that Horner leaving Red Bull would not have as big an impact on Verstappen's future than if Marko left.
Yet, this move does not move the Dutchman any closer to staying or departing Red Bull for next season, particularly if his motivations are driven by car competitiveness rather than personnel.
One thing is for sure though, the uncertainty has not ended with Red Bull. Everyone is on their toes to see what happens next.
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