Christian Horner fired: Martin Brundle "sad" but says it's "not completely out of the blue"

Sky Sports commentator and former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle has reacted to the news of Christian Horner's firing from his role as Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal, claiming he is "quite sad" but it was "not completely out of the blue."

The Milton Keynes outfit announced this morning that the 51-year-old has been removed from the role with immediate effect. Racing Bulls team chief Laurent Mekies has been promoted to Red Bull team principal and CEO.

Racing Bulls racing director Alan Permane will take Mekies' role as Racing Bulls team chief.

Brundle spoke to Sky Sports F1 following the announcement, claiming he was "quite sad" to hear of Horner's exit.

"I don't think it's completely out of the blue, given things that are going on and the sort of problems in the team, words getting out of team Verstappen and others," he explained.

Watch: What Horner's sacking really means for Verstappen, F1 and Red Bull?

"I'm quite sad about it if I'm honest, I consider Christian a friend and he's done an incredible job for the last 20 years - won an awful lot of races, and championships for drivers and for the team.

"And he took it from what was the Stewart team through Jaguar, and it was struggling, to a massive campus in Milton Keynes and an awful lot of success and a huge trophy cabinet.

"But it's not been difficult to feel in the Formula 1 paddock, and to observe, and to hear, that things were not particularly rosy."

Over his career at the helm of the Red Bull F1 team, Horner celebrated 124 race wins, eight drivers' titles with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen and six constructors' titles. However, the team has struggled with performance during the 2025 season, slipping to fourth in the constructors' standings. 

On top of the performance worries, there is talk of the team's star driver Verstappen considering a move to Mercedes, using a reported exit clause in his contract, and the team has not been able to find the Dutchman a team-mate who can utilise the car in the same way as the Dutchman. 

Horner was also accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee at the start of 2024, although he was cleared of the allegations by an investigation carried out by Red Bull GmbH.