Red Bull now have one Christian Horner regret that could cost Max Verstappen the championship – journalist

Red Bull Racing relieved Christian Horner of his team principal duties a few months ago, but their partnership only officially ended this week.

Horner and Red Bull have now agreed on a severance package, which could see the 51-year-old return to the paddock as early as next season.

The British Grand Prix was the final race Christian Horner took charge of at Red Bull, but the team’s form has picked up since their 10-point haul at Silverstone.

Max Verstappen won the Sprint Race at Spa before recording back-to-back victories at Monza and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull struggled at the beginning of the season, with Liam Lawson dropped after just two races, having failed to deal with an incredibly difficult-to-drive RB21.

Yuki Tsunoda has found life equally difficult since replacing the New Zealander, but their fortunes are now rapidly changing.

An update brought to the Italian Grand Prix by Red Bull was initially decided upon under Horner, but has been delivered by Laurent Mekies and appears to be making all the difference.

Journalist Felix Gorner believes that Red Bull chiefs have now seen something in Horner’s successor that is making them regret not moving on from the 51-year-old sooner.

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Red Bull ‘internally’ regret not sacking Christian Horner sooner for Max Verstappen’s title chances

Gorner was reporting for Sport.de after the latest race in Baku, and talking about the latest goings on at Red Bull, he said: “Will Laurent Mekies become the champion? Internally at Red Bull, they’re already saying: Damn, if we had fired Christian Horner earlier and hired Mekies, the chances of Max Verstappen winning his fifth world title would have been much better now!

“The chance is still there. The showdown will take place in Singapore. If Verstappen wins there on the only track he’s still missing from his collection, it will be a three-way battle for the world championship.

“Mekies and Verstappen are a unit; they have a connection. This means that Red Bull now attend every Grand Prix and are fast from Friday onwards.

“The simulations, the preparations at the factory, and the connection between the driver and the technical team are all working.

“They’re a homogenous unit. And that’s dangerous for McLaren.”

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What has changed at Red Bull for Max Verstappen under Laurent Mekies?

After the British Grand Prix, when Red Bull decided to part ways with Horner, Verstappen was 69 points behind Piastri in the drivers’ championship.

Five races later, and the gap is still exactly the same, highlighting the progress made by Red Bull in recent weeks.

Mekies comes from an engineering background, and it appears as though Red Bull are following the recent trend of appointing a team principal with that technical know-how.

Verstappen once again made setup demands in Baku that led to him starting on a harder compound tyre than the drivers around him.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen defied Pierre Wache’s advice by going with a lower downforce setup, something that Mekies understood and backed him on with impressive results.

Horner never had that background, and so it’s unlikely that he played a similar role in meetings leading up to a race.

However, the additional responsibility and freedom Mekies has given Verstappen might be the difference between finishing third in the championship and mounting the ultimate comeback against the two McLaren drivers.