Horner reveals unhappiness during Verstappen's dominant Red Bull years

Christian Horner has said he was privately unhappy during Red Bull's period of dominance with Max Verstappen, despite the team winning heavily on track. Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the former Red Bull team principal, who left the squad in July 2025 after 20 years, described the pressure and tension that built up around him as results flowed.

Horner said the atmosphere within the team had changed markedly from when he first joined, and recalled feeling a sense of relief after a meeting that led to his exit. He said his wife had told him she had never seen him so unhappy during a period when the team was winning a great deal, and described the feeling as reaching the top of a mountain only to find nothing there.

Horner linked the change in mood to the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, saying the subsequent shift in the business and the focus on managing politics and relationships drew energy away from the racing itself.