Red Bull have endured a difficult start to the 2025 season after falling 141 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship, with Max Verstappen winning just one race, and Christian Horner has come under fire
Christian Horner is reportedly on the verge of being sacked by Red Bull as team principal after the team’s poor start to the 2025 season. Red Bull have won the F1 drivers’ championship for the last four years running thanks to Max Verstappen, but are now falling far behind McLaren, who lead the standings through Oscar Piastri.
Piastri is currently on 131 points, with team-mate Lando Norris on 115 – with Red Bull star Verstappen trailing them on 99 after winning just one Grand Prix in Japan this season. In the constructors’ standings they are 141 points adrift.
It’s been a turbulent campaign for Red Bull, who have also made a change in the paddock by replacing No.2 driver Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda – with his decision to axe Sergio Garcia at the start of the season backfiring.
Now they could be making a change at the top of their hierarchy by axing Horner amid rising pressure on the team supremo’s position.
A report from German outlet oe24 claims that Horner could be ousted after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola this weekend, with two candidates lined up to replace him.
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Ex-Alpine boss Oliver Oakes is one contender to replace him should Red Bull decide to pull the trigger, having left the team last week following only nine months in charge. Another potential candidate is Franz Tost, the report claims, after serving as chief of Alpha Taura – now known as Racing Bulls – for three years between 2020 and 2023.
However, reports from Mail Sport have claimed that Horner’s position is not currently under threat.
Former F1 race engineer Julien Simon-Chautemps said he wouldn’t be surprised if Horner was removed from his position.
“Nothing is impossible,” he told OLBG. “He’s the longest-standing team principal in the pit lane at the moment. But last year, it was very difficult for him. He was in a very dangerous situation.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Horner left. Formula 1 is a fast-moving environment, and a lot can happen very quickly. We’ll have to wait and see.’
Should Horner depart, it would end an incredible spell of success over 20 years after he initially took up the role in 2005.
This is not the first time there have been question marks over Horner’s future after a female staff member at Red Bull accused him of “inappropriate behaviour”, before being cleared of any wrongdoing last summer.