Helmut Marko reveals reason behind Christian Horner Red Bull sacking

Helmut Marko has stated that Red Bull's decision to sack Christian Horner was "mainly" based on the alarming drop in performance by the team. 

Horner was dismissed as team principal and CEO on July 9th, bringing to an end his 20-year spell at the helm, with Laurent Mekies replacing him. 

After its dominant 2023 season and start of 2024, when it won 28 out of 32 races, Red Bull has only won four times in the last 27 races as Max Verstappen looks set to be dethroned as world champion, currently 81 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.

In the constructors', Verstappen has 185 of the team's 192 points, with Liam Lawson scoring none and Yuki Tsunoda just seven during his time with the team thus far. 

Red Bull GmbH motorsport advisor Marko has indicated that these performance woes were the main reason behind Horner's dismissal, as he also faced, and was cleared, by investigations of inappropriate behaviour, which he denied.

"Oliver Mintzlaff made the decision, we shared it with Christian on the Tuesday after the Silverstone race, in London," Marko told Sky DE. 

"We also immediately thanked him for the past 20 years and the eight world titles.

"[The sacking] was a consequence of all kinds of things, but mainly because of the fact that the performance was mostly not good recently. 

"Fortunately, we were then able to appoint Laurent Mekies, although he will have considerably fewer duties than Horner, and the main focus will be on racing."