Bernie Ecclestone reckons Christian Horner’s downfall at Red Bull wasn’t just politics—it was structure. In Ecclestone’s view, Horner paid the price for not having a “proper number two,” a blind spot that mirrored Max Verstappen’s lack of a consistent wingman since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018.
Horner was dismissed in the wake of the British Grand Prix, with Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies parachuted in as chief executive and team principal. It ended a 20-year reign that began in 2005 and powered Red Bull from brash upstart to serial title-winner.
The power dynamics shifted long before the axe fell. Ralf Schumacher pointed to the death of Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022 as the hinge moment, claiming Horner accrued far greater influence. Martin Brundle echoed that the Austrian leadership wanted to “take back control” and suggested Verstappen could’ve blocked the call—and chose not to—before later clarifying that “it wasn’t the Verstappens” behind the move.
Ecclestone, never one to sugarcoat, drew the line between team boss and star driver. “It was a bit like a marriage that ended in a divorce,” he told F1 Destinations, arguing that after Mateschitz’s passing, Red Bull’s leadership vision no longer favored Horner. The sting, for Ecclestone, wasn’t just the politics; it was the lack of contingency. Horner, like Verstappen, was “viewed… as someone that did not have a proper number two,” and there was “no Plan B in case something went wrong.”
If there was a succession plan at Milton Keynes, it went missing. Jonathan Wheatley, long-serving sporting director and widely regarded as the natural heir, exited last summer. He resurfaced at Sauber ahead of its transformation into Audi, taking the helm after a period of gardening leave. Wheatley has since overseen a tidy revival in Hinwil, capped by Nico Hülkenberg’s third place at Silverstone—Sauber’s first podium in 13 years, and, pointedly, Horner’s last race in charge of Red Bull.
Wheatley later revealed that a British newspaper piece over the 2024 Miami weekend—linking him to rival teams—forced a reckoning and opened the door to approaches elsewhere. It landed just days after Adrian Newey announced he was leaving Red Bull, another reminder of how quickly the foundations can shift when your top lieutenants don’t feel locked in.
Mekies inherits a fast car and a complicated inheritance. Ecclestone’s barb may feel old-school, but the message is modern: dominance is fragile without depth. Red Bull spent years winning because its first choices were better than everyone else’s. The next phase will show whether it finally has a Plan B.
