Is Horner axe enough for Red Bull to hang on to Verstappen?

Even as the reverberations from the shock sacking of Christian Horner as team principal of Red Bull are still being felt across Formula One, whether all this sound and fury will have been quite enough to keep Max Verstappen at the team remains a moot point.

- Giles Richards

When it was announced on Wednesday that Horner had been released from his post as team principal and chief executive of Red Bull after 20 years in charge and enormous success, pivotal to the decision was seemingly the desire to prevent the four-time world champion from being tempted away. Horner's removal a price the parent company was willing to pay.

That Red Bull GmbH finally moved decisively against Horner after almost two years of internecine strife appears to have met the goal of the Verstappen camp, led by the driver's father Jos, who made little secret of his desire to be rid of this turbulent team principal.

This did not appear a likely outcome when the furore over allegations against Horner of inappropriate behaviour toward a female employee died down after he was exonerated by an independent investigation. Yet while that had perhaps been the spark, what provoked decisive action at Red Bull GmbH was the downturn in results. If the power struggle is over, the fundamental issues remain.