2025 Formula 1 News of the Year: Christian Horner sacked

Paul Velasco, Editor-in-Chief, and Jad Mallak, Editor, at GrandPrix247, focus on the unquestionable News of the Year: the mid-season dismissal of Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing.

What made the decision extraordinary was not that it happened, but when it happened. Horner’s position had been weakening for months amid scandal, senior departures, and a visible decline in team cohesion, yet removing a long-serving team principal in the middle of a championship fight carried enormous risk. With Max Verstappen still defending his title, Red Bull chose upheaval over caution.

As Velasco and Mallak discuss, the fallout reshaped the season. The team stabilised, refocused, and ultimately recovered under new leadership, while Horner’s emotional farewell speech marked the end of an era he had built from nothing. It was a moment that redefined Red Bull and the championship itself.

Jad Mallak: "This is a slam dunk. Christian Horner was fired after the 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Since Horner’s sexting scandal and everything that followed, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley's leaving, staff becoming demoralised, and the team’s performance dropping, we all believed his days at Red Bull Racing were numbered.

"But the way it happened, and the timing, was still a surprise. In the middle of the season, with Max supposedly trying to defend his title, changes, even with Horner being detrimental at that point, could have been destabilising.

"Red Bull made the decision and pulled the trigger. He was out of the door at Milton Keynes. And it turns out that was an inspired decision by top management in Austria.

"At the end of the day, it took everyone by surprise, even him. If you see the videos of him addressing the staff at the factory in Milton Keynes, he was crying, devastated, and he didn’t know what was happening. So for that reason, this incident can be considered our News of the Year."

Paul Velasco: "I wrote an Outside Line blaming Christian Horner for losing Verstappen the 2025 Formula 1 title, and I stand by what I say. Adding to that, we saw that the minute Red Bull returned to concentrating on racing rather than the backroom sexting stuff, they became a potent racing team again.

"It’s a shame, because as much as Horner is to blame for all this, and we’ve got to throw him under the bus and let the bus driver reverse a few times, he should have bailed the minute he was caught dickpicking or whatever (is alleged) he did. I also believe paying people to shut up suggests they're guilty. So it’s guilty by association, allegedly. Don’t take me to court.

"But at the same time, it’s the end of an era for Formula 1. Horner built that team from nothing and turned it into a really cheeky little operation before it was winning. As soon as they got serious and rid themselves of old boy, David Coulthard and injected Sebastian Vettel into the team, they became a legendary force.

"Horner led the building of the Formula 1 powerhouse that Red Bull Racing became. Sadly, his legacy is now tarnished by his indiscretions and the fact that he almost destroyed the team he built. Horner made Formula 1 News of the Year, of the bad kind."