Outside Line: I blame the Verstappen title loss on Christian Horner

My theory on why Max Verstappen did not become the 2025 F1 World Champion is very simple: Christian Horner.

Disgraced former Red Bull team boss Horner blew that team up over a year ago. The so-called Sexting Scandal was not the start of the collapse; it was the final visible crack. In hindsight, with Jos Verstappen later laying bare what was really happening inside Red Bull, a full-scale implosion was inevitable.

By many accounts, Horner became drunk on power. Untouchable in his own mind. Reckless in reality. He seemed to stop managing Red Bull Racing, which he appeared intent on turning into Team Horner. But as we well know, Team Verstappen were not taking it. The team belonged to Max.

With the writing on the wall, for Horner, for him it was business as usual when the 'Sexting Scandal' was settled for millions, and he hung on. And he hung on. And he hung on. Then Adrian Newey departed.

Until the middle of the season, when Verstappen was 104 points behind it was over. Red Bull had no choice but to eject him. By then, the damage was terminal. He did not weaken the team. He all but nuked it.

Then Horner went, and Laurent Mekies came in. I imagine he took one look around at the sh!tshow at Milton Keynes, and asked the only question that mattered: what is my asset? The answer was obvious. Max Verstappen. So the strategy became brutally simple. Build him a rocket.

And they did. Red Bull finally transformed the RB21 to be worthy of Verstappen, and he dragged that operation back from the dead. He slashed a century deficit down to two points. Two! That alone tells you everything you need to know about the driver. But not even his genius and magnificence could halt the rot that Horner started two years ago on WhatsApp with a colleague.

With the Team Principal's agenda packed, dealing with and spin doctoring the sexting scandal while for sure placating his very famous Spice Girl wife. His eyes were off the ball to the point that he inevitably erred to the point of self-destruction.

The single biggest mistake Horner made was at the end of 2024, when he developed a fixation with Liam Lawson and sent Sergio Perez packing. If the Mexican had remained in that second Red Bull car, Verstappen would have been World Champion in 2025. One hundred and ten per cent. I have no doubt.

Granted, Perez was not Verstappen’s equal. Nobody is. But he was competent. He was experienced. He understood the role. Max likes him, and crucially, when Verstappen was not there, Perez could still win races or score big points. That mattered.

Horner ignored it. That decision alone cost Red Bull the Championship. Then came the Lawson farce.

Two races. Two. That is not a test; it is an execution. You do not evaluate a driver over two races. You give him ten. You give him time. You give him structure. Horner did none of that. He panicked, and then he fired Lawson after two weekends. Who does that?

And then came Yuki Tsunoda, and in my view, he was worse.

He unraveled. He was destroyed. Another knee-jerk reaction. Another misjudgment. Another mistake layered on top of the last. All of it traceable back to Horner’s decision-making and Horner’s ego.

This was not bad luck. This was not anyone in that excellent Red Bull team falling short. This was leadership failure, pure and simple. All roads lead back to Horner. One hundred percent.

And yes, without a single doubt, if Spice Boy had not detonated that team from the inside, Max Verstappen would be the 2025 F1 World Champion. History needs to remember that.