Christian Horner says Verstappen camp was not behind my Red Bull exit
christian horner has told Formula 1: Drive to Survive that Max Verstappen and his camp were "not responsible" for his exit from Red Bull in 2025. The 52-year-old said he left his roles as team principal and chief executive last summer after months of team decline and internal disputes.
Christian Horner kitchen-table moment
The latest season of Formula 1: Drive to Survive includes a filmed kitchen-table scene at the Horner family home in the Cotswolds. Footage shows Horner sitting in the conservatory, kissing his wife Geri Halliwell on the forehead and saying, "All... all done and dusted, " before accepting a latte. Halliwell, 53, looked visibly emotional and asked, "How do you feel?" Horner answered that he "never imagined to be in this position" and described an immediate instinctive reaction when he was sacked: "Of course your immediate reaction when you get delivered a s*** sandwich like that is, like, f*** them. I've had something taken away from me that wasn't my choice, that was very precious to me. " Halliwell later admitted she had earlier told him, after they returned from the Austria race and sat on the bed, that "Something really bad's gonna happen, " and that she had believed they were going to "fire" him.
Investigations and conflicting payouts
Horner was dismissed after a controversial 18 months that began when a female employee accused him of sexual harassment, an allegation made public in February 2024 following the leak of suggestive messages purporting to be from him. He was twice cleared: one account describes a clearance after an internal investigation conducted by a lawyer and then by another lawyer who dismissed the complainant's appeal; another account says internal investigations led by KCs twice cleared him of wrongdoing. The Briton said he left with a £52m payout, while other coverage of his exit stated he received an £80million package when he left the team in July.
Verstappens, reactions and denials
Horner insisted that Max Verstappen and his camp were "not responsible in any way" for his removal. He also said, "[Max Verstappen's] father has never been my biggest fan, " and added that Jos Verstappen had been outspoken about him. Jos had previously said Horner was "driving people apart" before his departure. Many suggested Horner's exit was an attempt by Red Bull to convince Verstappen to sign a new deal; Verstappen, who is contracted until 2028, only committed to racing for Red Bull in the 2026 season after Horner's exit.
Power struggle within Red Bull
Horner blamed Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff and Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko for his departure, saying, "I think this was a decision that was made by Oliver Mintzlaff with Helmut advising from the side-line. " He described the timing as sudden: "It was all rather sudden. I didn't really get the chance to say a proper goodbye. " Horner traced the shift of power to changes in the group after the death of the founder, saying, "The founder died, and after Dietrich [Mateschitz]'s death, I think probably I was deemed to have maybe too much control. " The death of Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022 was cited as a turning point. Marko, Mateschitz's trusted motorsport advisor who had worked closely with Horner for many years, was himself ousted by Red Bull just months after Horner at the end of the 2025 season.
Legacy, rivalries and the series launch
Horner joined the team in 2005 and led Red Bull to eight drivers' championships and six constructors' championship titles. Max Verstappen won four drivers' titles under Horner, including four successive drivers' titles from 2021 to 2024. Horner's main rival in the pit lane was Mercedes boss Toto Wolff; the pair regularly exchanged wars of words, and their rivalry peaked when Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2021 drivers' title. Despite their feuding, Horner revealed to the cameras that Wolff had sent him a touching message following his dismissal.
The latest season of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, released on Friday, arrives as an eight-episode batch ahead of the 2026 season getting under way in Australia. The episodes revisit Horner's shock sacking, the midway point of the 2025 season when he was deposed amid a suspected power struggle at the Thai-Austrian constructor, and the aftermath captured at the kitchen table and in the paddock.
A separate write-up of the kitchen-table scenes carried timestamps of 09: 09 GMT 27 Feb 2026 and an update at 12: 18 GMT 27 Feb 2026 by Tamara Prenn.
Halliwell, who was a semi-regular presence on race weekends and often appeared in the paddock at the start and end of the season and at proximate races such as the British Grand Prix, supported Horner throughout the controversies. When the paddock was stunned in February 2024 by the leaked messages, Halliwell flew to Bahrain to take her husband's side. Back at their home she tried to lift the mood by suggesting he might be trying to "eat his feelings. " Scenes later show the couple watching a race on television, with Horner complaining, "You haven't got any of the data here really!" and Halliwell admitting she felt "a bit sad watching this" as her eyes filled with tears. The series also records that Halliwell later called him a 't**t' for his antics.
Horner said he felt a "real sense of loss and hurt" and that he "didn't really get the chance to say a proper goodbye, " describing what followed as the end of a long chapter in his career.
