Insider claims Christian Horner balked at Dietrich Mateschitz selling off Red Bull to Porsche 

Former F1 commentator James Allen revealed that former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner allegedly stopped co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz from selling off the team to Porsche a couple of years back. The Brit was let go of his duties as team principal and CEO of the Austrian team last week in a decision that caught the entire sport by surprise.

There had been internal tensions between Horner and the board over the last 18 months. To make matters worse, the Milton Keynes-based outfit has slipped to P4 in the constructors' championship in the 2025 season and has not been able to reduce the car problems from last year and challenge McLaren, who holds the number one spot in the constructors standings.

Many also believed that Horner's issues began after the death of Mateschitz in late 2022, given the power vacuum left within the board. While appearing on the Red Flags podcast, James Allen revealed that before his death, Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz had tried to sell the team to Porsche to secure its future but was halted by Christian Horner, saying:

"I think the story of Christian Horner was that he had obviously great support from Mateschitz while he was alive. He then died, and everything started unraveling, and there's a whole backstory about how Mateschitz tried to sell the team to Porsche.

"Did you know about that? Before Mateschitz died, because he was thinking about the future. Christian didn't want that to happen, and he got the Thais on his side. They had the deciding vote." (3:30)

Post the Austrian's death, Red Bull under Christian Horner was able to win the double twice in 2022 and 2023 and won the driver's title in 2024 with Max Verstappen.

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F1 pundit chimes in on Red Bull staff's reported frustration with Christian Horner

F1 journalist and commentator Nelson Valkenburg stated that Christian Horner was unable to recruit top talent to Red Bull amidst the recent brain drain, which led to frustration within the staff of them becoming a 'one-car team.'

While appearing on The Race podcast, Valkenburg reflected on the subject and said:

“I think there’s been a brain drain at Red Bull, and there’s a problem getting the right people there, but the people that are there now have seen the team fall away. You can’t rely on bonuses every year, but if you’re as successful as that team has been over the past few years, it’s something you get accustomed to.

“There were some rumors last year that the middle management in that team was getting frustrated with the fact that it was a one-car team and that Perez wasn’t bringing in the points, so they lost out on the constructors."

Red Bull has lost key personnel like Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley, and Adrian Newey in the last couple of years.