Horner reflects on unhappiness during Red Bull dominance

Christian Horner has said that the most dominant period of Max Verstappen's time at Red Bull was, in many ways, the unhappiest of his Formula 1 career. Horner served as Red Bull Team Principal for 20 years before leaving the team in 2025, a departure clouded by discord, and he said he felt a sense of relief afterwards.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Horner described feeling incredibly sad about leaving the team, while acknowledging he had been unhappy for some time. He said his wife had remarked she had never seen him so unhappy during a period of huge success, adding that reaching the top of the mountain left him feeling there was nothing there.

Horner linked the friction within the team to the factions that formed after Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull co-founder, died. He said that after Mateschitz's passing, his focus was increasingly consumed by managing relationships and politics rather than the racing itself.