Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull’s period of extraordinary success with Max Verstappen coincided with one of the unhappiest spells of his professional life. Speaking on The High Performance Podcast, the former team principal explained how the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz changed the organisation and left him dealing with growing pressure away from the circuit, even as the team continued winning.
Horner’s comments offer a more personal insight into the internal changes that followed Red Bull’s dominant 2023 campaign. The team won 21 of that season’s 22 races, with Verstappen taking 19 victories, but the results did not reflect the strain Horner says he was experiencing behind the scenes.
Geri Horner noticed the strain despite Red Bull’s success
Horner, who led Red Bull for 20 years before his departure in July 2025, was asked why he felt relief after the meeting that ended his time with the team. He explained that the atmosphere had changed considerably from the environment he had entered when Red Bull joined Formula 1.
“I think, obviously tension had grown, things had changed. And it just felt very, very different to, you know, when I came into the sport, into the team,” Horner said.
He recalled calling his wife, Geri, after leaving the meeting and described the feeling as though “the world’s been almost taken off your shoulders”. But his reflections went further, revealing that the pressure had been affecting him long before his eventual dismissal.
“If I’m really honest with myself, and if you spoke to my wife, you know, there was a period in time that, you know, we were winning a huge amount and she said, ‘I’ve never seen you so unhappy.’”
Horner compared the experience to reaching the summit of a mountain only to discover that the achievement did not bring the fulfilment he had expected. “It’s almost like you get to the top of the mountain and you realise there’s nothing there,” he added, pointing to the exceptional pressure that comes with leading a high-profile Formula 1 operation.
Mateschitz’s death changed the Red Bull landscape
When asked how he could feel so unhappy while Red Bull was dominating Formula 1, Horner identified the death of Mateschitz in October 2022 as a defining moment. The Austrian entrepreneur had been central to the company and its motorsport programme, and his passing left a leadership void.
“I think it’s all relative and it applies across so many different aspects of life that, you know, if you’re happy in yourself, if you’re happy in your work, then everything’s just easier,” Horner explained.
He continued: “There’d been an awful lot of change, obviously within the team, within the overall business, and then different pressures are settling down as to what does the new world after the passing of the founder Dietrich Mateschitz look like?”
Horner said the organisation was inevitably going to feel different without its founder. Rather than concentrating almost exclusively on racing, he found that more of his time and attention was being absorbed by relationships, management issues and internal politics.
“And inevitably, it was always going to be different from that moment onwards. And rather than being able to focus on just the racing, suddenly your energy, your focus gets consumed into managing other elements and other relationships and politics, which inevitably happen within, you know, many, many different organisations.”
Winning on track could not hide the pressure behind the scenes
The timing is significant. Red Bull’s 2023 campaign was one of the most dominant in championship history, yet Horner described an atmosphere in which change and pressure were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The contrast underlines how sporting success does not necessarily mean that an organisation is functioning comfortably behind closed doors.
Horner’s account also adds context to the internal tensions that became more visible during the following seasons. His departure was confirmed in July 2025, bringing an end to a tenure that had delivered multiple drivers’ and constructors’ championships and established Red Bull as one of Formula 1’s leading forces.
His comments do not suggest that the team’s results were the problem. Instead, Horner described a changing working environment in which the demands of managing the wider organisation increasingly competed with the job of running a racing team.
For Red Bull, the challenge after Mateschitz’s death was not simply maintaining its advantage on the circuit. It was also navigating a new balance of influence and responsibility at the top of the business.
Horner’s reflections are a reminder that the most successful period in a team’s history can still carry a significant personal cost for those responsible for delivering it. Red Bull was winning almost everything, but, by his own account, the experience was far from the unqualified triumph it appeared to be from the outside.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
