Christian Horner has given Drive to Survive his view on how he was sacked from Red Bull Racing. The former team principal was dismissed two days after the British Grand Prix last year.Horner introduced Verstappen into the Red Bull racing team in 2016GettyThe mid-season exit for the 51-year-old came as no shock after a turbulent last year at the helm, with allegations of inappropriate behaviour being made by a female colleague.Horner has denied it throughout and was cleared by two independent investigations yet media frenzy meant his position was still in jeopardy.The British team principal was appointed as the boss of the Austrian team in 2005 when he was only 31 years old.He put all his efforts into luring star designer Adrian Newey from McLaren.When he did, it led to Sebastian Vettel winning the first of Red Bull’s seven drivers’ and six constructors’ titles in 2010.After a record-breaking season in 2023, Max Verstappen‘s title domination saw Red Bull win 21 of the 22 races.However, the previous two years saw McLaren control the Constructors title, with the deficit reaching almost 300 points between the two teams just before Horner was sacked.There would have been concern from the team’s hierarchy around performance just before a change in the regulations.Nevertheless, Horner has overseen periods where Red Bull were not the top team in the sport and had also just come off the back of four consecutive drivers’ titles with Verstappen.Why did Red Bull dismiss Christian Horner?Different theories for the dismissal were based on multiple people, including Jos Verstappen, the father of Max and a former Formula 1 driver himself.Helmut Marko is the one who favours promoting drivers from Red Bull’s sister teamGettyLast season it emerged that the Dutch driver and his camp, which includes his father, had been having talks with Mercedes about a potential move.Some fans theorised that they were trying to pressure Red Bull into removing Horner, however this was not the case.Elsewhere, after the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, there had been a power struggle to establish control in the team.Head of sport Oliver Mintzlaff, who oversees the company’s football operations, became more prominent in the F1 setup and was given the responsibility for dismissing Horner.And in the latest season ‘Drive to Survive’ the Brit gave a frank explanation about who he felt had forced him out..He said: “I feel a real sense of loss and hurt, it was all rather sudden. I didn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye.There seems to be a very PR approach towards the new season of Drive to Survive, with little mention of the inter-team battle for the championshipGetty“I never imagined to be in this position, of course your immediate reaction when you’re delivered a s*** sandwich like that is to say F*** them.“I had something taken away from me which wasn’t my choice which was very precious to me.He added: “His [Max’s] father has never been my biggest fan. He’s been outspoken about me but I don’t believe the Verstappens were responsible in any way.“I think this was a decision made by Oliver Mintzlaff with Helmut Marko advising from the sideline.“I think ultimately things changed within the business when the founder died and after Dietrich’s death, I was probably deemed to have too much control.”There had also been criticism on Horner’s leadership after Sergio Perez was dismissed by the team six months after receiving a contract extension.Additionally, under the Englishman the team demoted Liam Lawson to the junior team just two races into the season after choosing him over the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda initially.Horner said: “It wasn’t my choice [to swap Liam Lawson for Yuki Tsunoda]. I was always pushed to take drivers from the young drivers programme.”His agreed $100million [£80million] settlement with Red Bull will allow him back into the paddock as early as next spring and he has vocalised how much he wants to return to Formula 1.He said: “I feel like I have unfinished business in F1, it didn’t finish the way I would have liked it to.“But I am not going to come back for just anything, I am only going to come back for something that will win.“I don’t want to go back in the paddock unless I have something to do. I miss the sport, I miss the people, I miss the team I built.I had 21 incredible years in Formula 1, I had a great run and won a lot of races, championships and worked with some amazing drivers, engineers and partners.“I don’t need to go back, I could stop my career now so I would only go back for the right opportunity to work with great people and to work in an environment where people want to win and share that desire.”