Martin Brundle backtracks over Christian Horner sack after ‘Team Verstappen’ accusation
Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle is known to have a close relationship with former Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner
Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle has conceded that Max Verstappen’s camp was not behind Red Bull’s decision to sack Christian Horner.
Yet he remains convinced that the reigning four-time World Champion had the power to prevent Horner’s dismissal and still “chose not to stop Christian being let go.”
Martin Brundle clarifies comments on ‘Team Max Verstappen’ involvement in Christian Horner sacking
Red Bull announced earlier this month that Horner has been ‘released’ from his duties as chief executive and team principal after more than 20 years, with Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies promoted as his replacement.
Horner’s departure came after a tumultuous 18-month period at Red Bull, during which Verstappen’s father Jos called for the team boss to resign and warned the team would “explode” if Horner remained in place.
In the immediate aftermath of Horner’s dismissal, Brundle claimed that Verstappen’s entourage played a “key role” in Red Bull’s decision to make a change.
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In a fresh update at the Belgian Grand Prix, however, the Sky F1 commentator made it clear that the Verstappens were not the key drivers behind the move.
Appearing on the broadcaster’s coverage of FP1 at Spa, Brundle said of the decision to sack Horner: “I was very surprised.
“The urgency, the finality of it, the summary dismissal in the middle of the season after everything Christian’s achieved with the team over the last 20 years. The championships and victories are quite extraordinary.
“They’ve had a difficult one-and-a-half years, but they’ve still won races – and they won last year’s championship, of course, with Max.
“They’ve been on pole and won a couple of races too, so it didn’t feel like it was emergency action stations but that’s something they chose to do.
“I’ve had a long chat with Christian. I’ve spoken to Jos Verstappen. We’ve heard from Max Verstappen.
“I put a request in to talk to Oliver Mintzlaff and Dr Helmut Marko here. That hasn’t happened yet.
“But it seems clear that it was a decision from Austria. It wasn’t the Verstappens asking for this.
“Jos Verstappen has thrown a lot of hand grenades in over the past 16 months, some of them have gone off, and he made it clear he thought he Christian should move on from time to time.
“But it wasn’t about the Verstappens.
“It was the management in Austria wanting to take back control of some of the commercial side of it.
“Christian didn’t want to let that go because he felt, in the round, the drivers, the cost cap, the sponsors, the employment of people was all one big story that he wanted to keep hold of and so they made that decision.
“Presumably Max could have, if he’d have wanted to, stopped it from happening – but he either chose not to or couldn’t.
“I’m going to assume he chose not to stop Christian being let go.
“So they are where they find themselves today. They have an expression: ‘It’s all about the can.’
“And they felt that they want to do something with Red Bull going forward.
“Maybe it was a bit too much about Christian and not enough about Red Bull, let’s wait to see what they say about that.
“So there are any number of factors, but I’d imagine Christian sitting home watching this, for the first time not in the paddock for 20 years, feeling pretty sad about it.”
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Brundle’s latest comments come after he aired his belief that Verstappen is now “certain” to remain at Red Bull for F1 2026.
Horner’s dismissal followed huge speculation over the future of Verstappen, who has been heavily linked with a move to Mercedes for next season.
Despite being officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, it is believed that a clause in Verstappen’s contract will allow him to leave for F1 2026 if he is lower than fourth in the Drivers’ standings after next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break.
Verstappen currently holds third in the championships with an 18-point advantage over George Russell, the driver he would most likely replace at Mercedes for next season.
Speaking on Friday at Spa, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff denied that his flirting with Verstappen for F1 2026 contributed to Red Bull’s decision to sack Horner.
Asked by Brundle if his “teasing” with Verstappen ultimately “helped get Christian kicked out”, Wolff said: “No.
“I think there is much more in the background that we probably don’t know with Red Bull, the mothership and the whole constellation.
“And looking after drivers. in my position as team principal of Mercedes I need to find out, I need to explore what Max is going to do in the next few years, not only next year.”
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