Christian Horner Snaps at Brundle Over Red Bull ‘Team Orders’ Allegation During Monaco GP Grid Walk
During the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix grid walk, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had a tense moment with Formula 1 pundit Martin Brundle. The incident occurred when Brundle, covering the race for Sky Sports, questioned whether Red Bull might manipulate the race using its sister team, Racing Bulls, to benefit their main drivers during pit stops.
This speculation came amidst a controversial rule change by the FIA mandating two pit stops for the Monaco race to boost excitement. However, due to the tight nature of the circuit and limited overtaking opportunities, several teams found a way around this by deliberately slowing the pace and creating artificial gaps in the field. This allowed teammates to make pit stops without losing position, effectively nullifying the intended drama of the new rule.
Brundle brought this up directly to Horner, asking if Red Bull, by virtue of its connection to Racing Bulls, effectively had four cars working together to exploit the strategy. His exact words were:
“We’re thinking some teams may use one car to create the gap. Have you effectively got 4 cars on the grid at Red Bull to play that game with?”
Horner responded sharply, dismissing the accusation and stating:
“Why on earth would you think that, Martin? Racing Bulls are running their own race.”
Ironically, Racing Bulls appeared to be the first team to adopt the controversial tactic. Both of their drivers, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, made early stops to complete the mandatory two-stop strategy early in the race. The gamble paid off—Hadjar finished sixth while Lawson took eighth.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen had led much of the race but fell to fourth after he waited until the second-to-last lap to make his second required stop, following the letter of the law but losing the lead in the process.
The lack of on-track action drew criticism from fans, with only one legal overtake—by Lance Stroll on the final lap—throughout all 77 circuits. Most of the race saw cars stuck in a DRS train, unable to pass due to Monaco’s notoriously tight layout.
Following the event, Christian Horner called on the FIA to revise the Monaco circuit to allow more overtaking. He suggested potential changes like creating longer braking zones, particularly at the exit of the tunnel or into Turn 1, to open up more passing opportunities. Horner noted that the increasing size of modern F1 cars makes side-by-side racing nearly impossible on the current layout.
His concerns were echoed by several drivers, including Max Verstappen and George Russell, who criticized the two-stop strategy as ineffective and urged broader changes to both the track and race regulations to improve future races.