Christian Horner hit back at Red Bull with Mike Krack comment when they tried to change his role
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images Christian Horner was sacked in July 2025 after losing the faith of Red Bull’s ownership, but journalist Nate Saunders says he didn’t want to be sidelined like Mike Krack before the decision was made. During his time at the helm, Horner guided Red Bull to eight championship wins and built a reputation as one of the most influential figures in the sport, alongside Mercedes’ Toto Wolff. Aston Martin operates under a different structure.
There, Lawrence Stroll is the public face of the organisation while also handling business operations. Stroll brought in Krack early in 2022 and then moved him into a new role three years later when Andy Cowell took over as team principal. Christian Horner resisted Red Bull’s attempts to change his role Speaking on The Race F1 podcast , Saunders said Red Bull were looking to ease Horner out of full control.
Over at sister team Racing Bulls, Peter Bayer handled the commercial side, while Alan Permane managed racing operations. During the Austrian GP, Horner’s second-to-last race, Red Bull sports chief Oliver Mintzlaff pushed for him to give up commercial duties, highlighting what Saunders described as an “old-school” mindset. F1 teams are increasingly moving away from having a single dominant team boss.
While Laurent Mekies held the same title as Horner, his focus was entirely on engineering and racing. “If you look at the undoing of Christian Horner, a lot of the root of that was the commercial desire of the Austrian side of Red Bull to really control that part of the business,” Saunders explained. “Peter Bayer does that for the junior team.
“It was the Austrian Grand Prix last year where Oliver Mintzlaff and the wider Red Bull company sat down with Horner and said, ‘You need to give up some of the commercial stuff. ’ “Horner made a joke, ‘Well you can go and sign Mike Krack if you want that kind of role. ’ That was a really fascinating clash of two mindsets.