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 Formula 1 chief engineer Paul Monaghan has admitted Christian Horner’s sacking was a “shock”, and acknowledged boosting the squad's fortunes would be tough for new CEO Laurent Mekies.