Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner has long been one of F1’s most controversial characters, and his shock exit from the sport was completely in-keeping with what came before.

Now, the ex-team principal has given details on exactly how it happened, describing the moment the bombshell hit.

With Horner ejected despite two decades of success with the team, it gives a window into the merciless world of F1 that some describe as the ‘Piranha Tank’.

Christian Horner describes how Red Bull F1 team got rid of him

Having taken over Red Bull in 2005, Christian Horner is one of F1’s most successful team bosses.

The Milton Keynes team has won eight Drivers’ and six Constructors’ titles, now putting it in the same conversations as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes in terms of Grand Prix racing's greatest manufacturers.

Transforming the lethargic and corporate Ford-run Jaguar team into the new Red Bull operation in 2005, Horner took what he’d learned from his own Arden F3000 operation and put that into F1, streamlining as many processes as he could.

However, when his ally and Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz died in 2022, Horner realised the power began to shift - the corporate forces within the organisation looking to take back control.

Christian Horner's final moments at Red Bull

Despite this, when speaking to The Athletic, Horner said his eventual firing still came as a shock.

The evening after the 2025 British GP, in which Max Verstappen had taken on pole but faded to fight in the race, Horner got a text summoning him to London the next day.

Although the meeting was ostensibly to discuss marketing initiatives, Horner released the committee there waiting for him might have been intended to talk about something else.

In the group were the team’s young driver guru Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s CEO Oliver Mitzlaff and its head of HR.

Horner told The Athletic the meeting hit him like a train.

“I didn’t have the inkling it was going to be dealt with so abruptly,” he said. Horner goes on to say he was informed the team wanted “to go in a different direction” and that “there was no reasoning given.”

The principal was informed it was felt the team had become too much about him.

“It was only when I really pushed to say, ‘Well then there has to be a reason’ that I was given ‘It’s more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing.'”

Horner gives his opposing point of view to The Athletic.

“There has to be a visible leader,” he says. “But I always worked for Red Bull. My interest - I was an employee of Red Bull. Everything that I was doing was for the benefit of the team that ultimately benefited Red Bull. And I think I delivered reasonably well during the time that I was there.”

A week before his removal, Horner had been hosting Marko and his eventual replacement - then-Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies - at his house for a barbecue. Now he was out of the team.

In 2024, Horner had weathered since-dismissal charges of workplace misconduct in relation to a female employee, as well as an appeal, but the former team boss says he could still sense a shift at Red Bull.

He says he “could feel a change coming in, that there was more and more desire to have more control back in head office.”

Where will Christian Horner go next in F1?

Christian Horner has been linked with a number of different F1 teams and projects, but none have yet to materialise.

Ferrari

Speaking to The Times, Horner said Ferrari was "the biggest brand in Formula 1", and "the dream" destination, but a "sleeping giant".

He also hinted that: "[There is] only one team for which I would accept non-participation in ownership," which many inferred as the Scuderia.

However, Horner was offered the job by Ferrari chairman John Elkann four years ago and rejected it, likely because he felt he wouldn’t have enough control.

Alpine

Horner has always been on good terms with Alpine team boss Flavio Briatore, and was linked with buying into the team with a view to taking over Otro’s 24% stake in January.

However, the move was blocked by overall owner Renault.

BYD

The Chinese brand is now the world’s best-selling electric car manufacturer, but is still looking for ways to leverage its name - F1 being the prime target.

Horner met with Stella Li, BYD's executive vice president, at an event in Cannes in May to discuss potential F1 plans, but no forward momentum has emerged from there.

Aston Martin

Horner has also been linked to Aston Martin; however, this was dismissed by its now team principal and Red Bull’s former technical director Adrian Newey in July.

“Yes, I keep hearing these rumours about Christian,” Newey said. “I can’t comment further, I don’t really know anything about that.

“All I can say is that we’re very happy with our senior management team. We may do some minor tweaks, but the personnel we have at Aston Martin Racing, we’re very happy with.”