Christian Horner spent large parts of his last 18 months at Red Bull clinging onto his job. He took public criticism from Max Verstappen 's dad, Jos. He faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a female colleague, which he was later cleared of. And he was central in rumblings of friction between key figures at the top of the F1 team.

There are no guarantees Max Verstappen will stay with Red Bull despite Christian Horner being sacked, it has been claimed. Red Bull’s decision to sack Horner, who had been at the helm of the Milton Keynes squad since their 2005 debut, sent shockwaves throughout the F1 world last week.

The sudden firing of Christian Horner from his role as Red Bull Racing team principal and CEO has resulted in countless explanations and theories. Gerhard Berger has entered the ring with his own theory that Horner’s sacking has to do with the team’s hope of retaining Max Verstappen at Red Bull.