Christian Horner spent large parts of his last 18 months at Red Bull clinging onto his job. He took public criticism from Max Verstappen 's dad, Jos. He faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague, which he was later cleared of. And he was central in rumblings of friction between key figures at the top of the F1 team.

A former FIA steward has predicted a difficult period for the Red Bull Racing F1 team after Christian Horner's ousting.

Martin Brundle believes Max Verstappen is likely to stay at Red Bull next season following the news that Christian Horner has been relieved of his duties as the team’s F1 CEO. Horner, 51, has been in charge of Red Bull Racing since its inception in 2005 but will be replaced by former Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies after a shock announcement on Wednesday morning.