Martin Brundle identifies key moment things began to unravel for Christian Horner at Red Bull

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Christian Horner said his goodbyes to the Red Bull Racing staff at their Milton Keynes base on Wednesday.

Horner’s exit brings an end to a 20-year stretch in charge of the team. David Croft was there as he left the factory for the final time.

Red Bull made the call following the British Grand Prix, deciding it was time for a fresh approach after two decades under Horner’s leadership.

Laurent Mekies has come in to replace Horner, while Alan Permane has stepped up to take over Mekies’ old role at Racing Bulls ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Red Bull are fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, with most of their points coming from Max Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda has found it difficult to make an impact this season, joining a list of drivers who have struggled alongside Verstappen.

Looking back at Red Bull’s time under Horner, Martin Brundle thinks he’s identified when things started to slip for the 51-year-old.

Martin Brundle points to Dietrich Mateschitz’s death as the key moment in Christian Horner’s Red Bull decline

Brundle was speaking on The F1 Show about how team principals’ roles have changed, saying: “We’ve got a division of the responsibilities because the teams have become so big, but along the way Christian, he’s created a bit of trouble along the way in terms of he’s often had plenty to say and poking, but that’s his job.

“You’ve got to slow the opposition down and speed your team up.

“But I can’t help but think the wheels started to come off when Dietrich Mateschitz died. To all intents and purposes, I think he’s been a passenger as well since Bahrain last year when that news came out, and the tail’s been wagging the dog a bit.

“I think his failing on that was convincing himself and trying to convince everybody else that they weren’t really doing that much anymore. It really didn’t matter; he’d got a better crew behind him. But that wasn’t correct.

“But let’s remember this is a team that was on pole position last weekend in Silverstone – one of the toughest circuits in the world – and have won two Grands Prix this year.

“It’s not exactly like it’s been a disaster or completely non-performed. But I think there were too many things working against him. And I think eventually he had a lot of support from Chalerm Yoovidhya, and I think eventually that faded away and the inevitable has happened.”

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Christian Horner lost support from Red Bull’s Thai owners

Horner held more influence at Red Bull than most team principals across the grid.

Only Toto Wolff at Mercedes could claim a stronger position, given his ownership stake in the team.

Within Red Bull, there was a divide between the Austrian and Thai ownership over Horner’s role. Chalerm Yoovidhya had been one of his key supporters for a while.

But Yoovidhya’s confidence in Horner faded after attending the Austrian Grand Prix, where Verstappen qualified seventh and Tsunoda 18th, with both drivers finishing outside the points.

Every team on the grid is facing major decisions ahead, with driver line-ups to finalise and new regulations coming into play.

Red Bull arguably have more at stake than most. Questions remain over Verstappen’s future, Tsunoda is fighting to keep his seat, and there’s a new power unit that needs to be developed within six months.