Red Bull without Horner
Since the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, Red Bull’s pit wall has a new leader, and it will certainly take some time to adjust to Laurent Mekies after 20 years under the guidance of Christian Horner. The Frenchman immediately made a strong impression by winning the Belgian Sprint Race, largely thanks to the exceptional driving performance of Max Verstappen. However, the difficult challenges lie ahead, with Red Bull’s technical dominance weakened by the departure of key engineers and internal turmoil, making the 2026 season an especially complex puzzle to solve.
Behind the separation lies an internal power struggle between two factions: on one side Christian Horner, initially backed by the Thai ownership; on the other, the “clan” made up of Red Bull’s sporting director Oliver Mintzlaff, advisor Helmut Marko, and the Max Verstappen family, especially Max’s father Jos.
Bernie Ecclestone’s comments
Christian Horner had apparently sensed the changing winds early on, but perhaps he did not expect such a sudden acceleration of events. The day before the decision—which was communicated to the British team principal on Tuesday, July 8, and publicly announced the following day—Christian Horner did not inform his friend Bernie Ecclestone. The former F1 boss defended Christian Horner, telling Sky Sports UK: “I told some friends at Red Bull that perhaps it was a bit cruel, but they didn’t have much choice. They decided that this was what they were going to do, and that was it. They had to make a decision and act.”
According to some rumors, Bernie Ecclestone and Horner might team up and buy shares in Alpine. Bernie Ecclestone dismissed this possibility with a joke: “I believe there’s a better chance that Lewis Hamilton wins his eighth world championship. I don’t know how, where, or if he even wants to come back to F1. Probably not, because he wants to own part of a team. Unless he finds someone willing to invest money to buy a team, I don’t think it will happen.”
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