By Darian Lee Crowley
Can Red Bull win again post-Horner?
Under Christian Horner, Red Bull established a destiny in F1 for Sebastian Vettel and then Max Verstappen. Now they have to build one without him.
Several pieces of the Red Bull jigsaw that made the team work have fallen out of place.
The death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, the end of the Honda partnership, and key personnel departures—Courtenay, Marshall, Newey, Wheatley, and now Horner.
Red Bull’s success is unprecedented. In an era of F1 dominated by large car manufacturers, a drinks brand became a dominant force.
Compared to Mercedes, the team has also had a weaker engine and fewer employees. But once again the team will have to do more with less. New team principal Laurent Mekies faces a mammoth task.
Ford
One problem Red Bull has always had is engines. They never settled on an engine supplier, as they began another new chapter with Ford in 2026.
Christian Horner’s unhappiness with the new regulations seemed to signal all was not well on the Ford front.
Becoming a new engine manufacturer is hard. Honda in 2015 was the last new engine manufacturer in F1, and it took them several years to be competitive.
Even if the team improves their recent technical problems since Adrian Newey’s departure. It will be very hard to win a championship in the 2026 regulations without having the fastest engine.
Team Structure
Red Bull’s founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s passion for motorsport was clearly shown with his purchase of two F1 teams and the success of the senior one.
His death in 2022 has triggered the power struggle the team experienced in recent years.
Horner’s sacking is a power struggle win for Helmut Marko and Jos Verstappen, as Laurent Mekies will likely take a low-key role as team principal. But it doesn’t get rid of the root cause of the problem.
Mateschitz was a quiet but crucial part of the Red Bull jigsaw. Now the team’s decision-makers are a board of directors.
Their interests may be more focused on marketing and profitability rather than championships.
With that in mind, Red Bull’s possible transition from a front runner to a midfielder may be acceptable for them. It won’t be for someone else.
Verstappen
Despite all the chaos in the team, they may have kept the most prized asset in F1 right now. Max Verstappen.
However, his confirmation that he will stay for 2026 and his contract until 2028 do not guarantee anything long-term.
Verstappen has clauses in his contract that if the team doesn’t perform, he can walk out of the contract early.
As Adrian Newey said, Max is “a very simple beast” and “will always chase who he thinks will produce the fastest car.”
With the current state of the team, it is difficult to see how they can challenge for a championship next year. This situation could result in the final piece of Red Bull’s success being lost.
Red Bull is a team with enormous resources and potential. However, building back up a new destiny is likely going to take a lot longer than it did to fall apart.
WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 