The 2024 season was a tough one to endure for Red Bull team principal Christian Horner as he had to face many crises, both on and off the track. First, he was put under investigation by Red Bull GmbH after a former employee accused him of inappropriate behavior towards her.
On track as well, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez struggled with the RB20’s balance issues. Moreover, with Perez also performing poorly, the team failed to retain the Constructors’ title and ended up finishing third, behind eventual champions McLaren and second-placed Ferrari.
And that’s not it, as what perhaps shook the team the most was the sudden departure of Adrian Newey, who had been with Red Bull for two decades. Speaking about Horner‘s year, former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner said on the GPFans Global podcast,
“I think he will remember the 2024 year as pretty shittiest year of his life, you know, with all the stuff which happened“.
Christian Horner on what went wrong for Checo in 2024 ️ pic.twitter.com/zljxnJag2l
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) December 18, 2024
The American-Italian engineer has also suggested that Horner’s problems are not going to go away soon either. “It will be difficult, you know. But only time will tell what Christian can make out of it. But I think it is not getting any easier for him in the moment,” Steiner added.
With respect to Horner’s inappropriate behavior case, he was later acquitted by the team and an independent barrister. But on track, his problems were amplified by the car’s poor performance and the loss of key personnel.
Jonathan Wheatley has also left the team to join Audi, and 2025 looks like a year where Red Bull is slated to fall further down the pecking order. Furthermore, Horner also had to deal with a dissatisfied Max Verstappen last season.
Max and his father, Jos, reportedly made a ploy to get rid of the Briton. From the outside, Horner dealt with the matter well, but if the RB21’s problems persist, then he might be on the wrong side of the Verstappens again.
The last nail in the coffin for Horner could be the coup planned by Aston Martin. The Silverstone-based team are planning to bid a whopping $1 billion to lure the #1 driver away from Red Bull.
Max might be persuaded to take that offer up if he isn’t able to defend his title owing to Red Bull’s poor form. If that happens, it could be a big blow to Horner and he might lose the confidence of his board.
