Does Horner’s firing make sense now after this major revelation?

Christian Horner has been under fire since the beginning of 2024, after being accused of inappropriate behaviour by a former employee. The Austrian branch of Red Bull wanted to dismiss Horner as team principal, but was stopped by Chalerm Yoovidhya.

The Thai major shareholder owned 51 percent of the shares and could therefore single-handedly decide whether Horner could stay. The Thai had this authority even when Dietrich Mateschitz was still alive, but Dietrich had, with 49%, full control over Red Bull's sporting division.

With the passing of Mateschitz, control over the sporting division of Red Bull shifted to the Thai side of the company. Chalerm Yoovidhya, the son of founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, initially held 2 percent of Red Bull GmbH at the time of its founding. When Chaleo passed away, Chalerm inherited 51% of the company’s shares.

However, research by PlanetF1 has revealed that Red Bull GmbH recently filed documents to alter the ownership structure. Yoovidhya sold his 2% stake to Fides Trustees SA, an independent Swiss trust fund. This sale brought Chalerm’s and the Austrian branch's shareholding to equal levels.

With this change in share distribution, the man who fully backed Horner in 2024 disappeared from the equation. Nevertheless, support from the Thai side had already been waning over the past year. GPblog previously reported that Horner had lost part of his influence at Red Bull Racing following the debacle surrounding Sergio Perez. In recent weeks, as performance dipped even further compared to 2024, the Thai faction’s confidence in Horner is said to have completely crumbled.