Horner embroiled in ‘heated’ row with Jos Verstappen during last race – report claims
Christian Horner had a “heated” argument with Jos Verstappen during his last race weekend as Red Bull team principal at the British Grand Prix.
That is the claim of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who says the father of Max Verstappen was left “anything but happy with the situation” at Silverstone.
Schumacher: Christian Horner and Jos Verstappen had ‘heated’ row at British GPRed Bull announced last week that Horner had been ‘released from his operational duties’ with immediate effect, with Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies stepping up as his successor.
Horner’s departure came hot on the heels of a challenging British Grand Prix, where reigning four-time World Champion Verstappen fell 69 points behind F1 2025 championship leader Oscar Piastri in a blow to his hopes of retaining his title.
Verstappen Sr had led calls for Horner to be replaced since last year, famously warning at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix that the team would “explode” if the team boss remained in place.
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Red Bull has since lost a number of key figures behind the team’s success with the likes of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley leaving for Aston Martin and Sauber respectively.
The British Grand Prix weekend saw Verstappen face questions over his future amid widespread reports that he is on the verge of joining Mercedes for the F1 2026 season.
Appearing on the Backstage Pitlane podcast, Schumacher has claimed that Horner was involved in a furious row with Verstappen’s father during the British Grand Prix as the World Champion slipped from pole position to fifth place in a rain-affected race.
Schumacher also suggested that Paul Smith, Red Bull’s group director of communications, who has been placed on gardening leave along with chief marketing officer Oliver Smith, was also involved in the argument.
Schumacher said: “There was another argument or a heated exchange, at least visually and verbally, between Jos Verstappen, Christian Horner and the press officer.
“You could see that Jos was anything but happy with the situation.”
Schumacher went on to describe Horner as “a bit of a difficult person”, claiming that the 51-year-old did not take kindly to criticism to the extent that he no longer dealt with the Sky Germany television crew on F1 race weekends.
He said: “For me, Christian Horner is also a bit of a difficult person.
“I have to say that. He just failed to keep the team together well, which is not always easy, of course.
“But I also think his behaviour now – and I can only say for myself – but he can’t really deal with criticism.
“We [Sky Germany] are – or I am now – on a so-called black list, so he no longer talks to us or with me and such.
“It’s actually a joke because a man who has won so much should actually be able to discuss it in front of the camera.”
A report ahead of the British Grand Prix weekend claimed that Verstappen’s camp had been applying pressure on Red Bull to either replace Horner or see his power within the team significantly diminished.
The Red Bull driver denied any knowledge of his camp pushing for Horner to leave, telling media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone: “I don’t know anything about that.”
However, Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle has argued that Verstappen’s entourage “played a key role” in Red Bull’s decision to sack Horner.
Asked if Red Bull were given an ultimatum of choosing between Horner and Verstappen, Brundle said: “I don’t know.
“But what’s absolutely clear is that the Verstappen camp have been lobbing in hand grenades for quite some months now.
“Some of them have gone off and it’s been pretty relentless in that respect.
“I think, at times, Max’s dad, Jos, has made it absolutely clear that he thinks Christian shouldn’t be leading the company and leading the team.
“So I would say, yes, they played a key role in Christian’s exit.
“Unless you’re behind closed doors then you don’t know for certain.
“But there are certain things I do know – and certain things I have seen and heard – that makes me think they were pretty involved in this decision.”
More on Max Verstappen and Red Bull from PlanetF1.comIt was claimed earlier this month that Verstappen is close to agreeing a deal to join Mercedes for the F1 2026 season, with the move awaiting approval from the Mercedes board.
It has since been reported that Ola Kallenius, the Mercedes chief executive, has now given the green light to the signing of Verstappen.
Despite being under contract until the end of the 2028 season, Verstappen’s contract is understood to contain a performance-related clause that could allow him to leave at the end of this season.
It is believed that the 27-year-old will be free to activate an exit clause if he is lower than fourth in the Drivers’ standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before F1’s summer break, early next month.
Read next: ‘Two out of three’ for Horner and Ferrari after Red Bull axing?
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