Christian Horner has been sacked by Red Bull after 20 years as team principal, the team confirmed on Wednesday.
Horner has been in charge of F1's Red Bull team since 2005 and oversaw its dominant runs at the start of the 2010s and the current decade.
Sources within Red Bull have told ESPN the atmosphere within the team has grown increasingly tense, a situation magnified by the team's struggles on track this year and the growing uncertainty with star driver Max Verstappen's future.
Sources have also told ESPN a series of meetings took place over the last two weekends — the team's home race, the Austrian Grand Prix, and the British Grand Prix.
At least one of them involved Verstappen and Oliver Mintzlaff, a senior figure on the company's corporate side who has long pushed for a change to the leadership of Red Bull's racing outfit.
Last month, Horner denied reports he had been sounded out by Ferrari chairman John Elkann about potentially replacing the under-fire Fred Vasseur.
Yet, Horner's role always seemed safe while he retained the support of Red Bull majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, who co-founded the company with the late Dietrich Mateschitz.
That situation appears to have changed. Sources had told ESPN no decision to remove Horner could be made without Yoovidhya's approval.
Wednesday's news comes a year after Horner kept his role following an internal sexual misconduct investigation stemming from allegations from a former Red Bull Racing employee.
That saga only deepened political rifts which followedMateschitz's death in 2022.
Horner had a much-publicised falling out with Jos Verstappen, father of Max — the Verstappens are closely aligned with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
The last year also saw legendary
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