While the reason for Horner's ousting has not been revealed, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has pointed out that performance concerns led to his exit, and that the decision was taken by the managing director of Red Bull GmbH, Oliver Mintzlaff. Newsweek Sports reported his comments:

The drivers, team workers and new boss all try to look forward as the Belgian GP (and another era) gets underway

Red Bull axed Christian Horner after 20 years as team principal and chief executive of the F1 team last week, meaning the Belgian Grand Prix is the first event he has missed in 406 races