Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has revealed that Christian Horner was primarily dismissed from his role as team principal due to performance reasons.
Horner was relieved of his duties as Red Bull F1 CEO and team principal three weeks ago after 20 years at the helm.
It brought to an end a tumultuous 18 months for the team, with a divide forming within the management structure despite Max Verstappen claiming his fourth world championship last year.
Yet with Red Bull languishing in fourth place in the constructors’ standings, long-term adviser Marko insisted Horner’s dismissal was down to this under-performance.
"The decision was made by the management, that is, Oliver Mintzlaff,” Marko told Sky Germany. "We informed Christian Horner of it in London.
“At the same time, we officially thanked him for 20 years and eight world titles. It was the result of various factors. But primarily, performance was not quite where it should be."
Horner was replaced by Laurent Mekies, formerly team principal at sister team Racing Bulls. Mekies took charge of the team for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend and experienced his first victory with Verstappen’s sprint race win.
"Luckily, we were able to bring in Laurent Mekies from within the Red Bull family, his role will be significantly more focused - primarily on racing,” Marko, 82, added.
"He's an excellent engineer, which is a good fit considering the complex technology in Formula 1.
"We've already seen that he communicates very well with the staff. We're hopeful that we can gradually return to the top."
F1 heads to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, the last race before the summer break.
