Where Red Bull’s major shareholder stands on Christian Horner’s future after worst start for six years

Christian Horner is the longest-serving team principal in the Formula 1 paddock. He’s been with Red Bull since they made their debut in 2005.

No other team boss comes close to that level of longevity. Most, in fact, were appointed within the last few years.

Horner has overseen incredible success at Red Bull in the form of eight drivers’ championships – four for Max Verstappen, four for Sebastian Vettel – and six constructors’ crowns. They have won 123 Grands Prix and are creeping towards 300 podiums.

But right now, Horner is being forced to deny claims that the team is in crisis. They lost two of their most important figures last year in legendary designer Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

The second driver situation has also descended into a mess, with Sergio Perez paid off in December despite signing a new contract only months earlier and Liam Lawson lasting just two races. Most importantly, the car isn’t performing on track, even in the hands of Verstappen.

Christian Horner retains backing of Red Bull chief despite 2025 F1 struggles

Red Bull’s issues need to be put into perspective. Verstappen enters the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix within 10 points of championship leader Lando Norris, and he won the Japanese GP from pole earlier this month.

But in Bahrain just a week later, the team reached a nadir for the ground-effect era, with their 10-point haul an accurate, perhaps even flattering, reflection of their performance. Their true level lies somewhere between the Suzuka and Sakhir extremes, but they’re clearly multiple tenths behind McLaren.

As the table shows, Red Bull’s points tally after four rounds is their lowest since 2019. But Dutch publication De Telegraaf reports that Horner retains the faith of majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya.

The 51-year-old is ‘firmly in the saddle’, with ‘many staff members’ still backing him. In 2024, senior colleagues signed a letter stating they would resign if Horner lost his job.

Christian Horner must now regret overlooking one Max Verstappen concern

Horner gave a blunt response to Natalie Pinkham on Friday after a question about Red Bull’s correlation issues. That was perhaps a sign that he’s frustrated with the coverage of his team.

He thinks the severity of the situation has been blown out of proportion in the media. If the table above were put to him, he might point to Lawson’s struggles as the primary explanation.

However, Verstappen is ‘most frustrated’ that Red Bull played down their problems last year. One could argue that Horner should have taken his complaints more seriously.

There’s no indication that Red Bull have made any fundamental changes to the way they operate. But that might be required if they want to keep winning in the short, medium and long term.