Red Bull fires F1 team principal Christian Horner after 20 title-filled years

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 7:40 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Longtime Red Bull squad main Christian Horner was fired abruptly connected Wednesday aft a 20-year stint that included 8 Formula 1 drivers' titles and a emergence to personage status.

Red Bull did not springiness a crushed for the determination successful a connection Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his enactment and said helium volition "forever stay an important portion of our squad history."

Laurent Mekies of sister squad Racing Bulls volition regenerate Horner successful his relation arsenic main enforcement of the Red Bull team.

Horner had been Red Bull squad main since it entered F1 arsenic a afloat constructor successful 2005. He had performed his squad and media duties arsenic mean passim the British Grand Prix past week.

His woman is Geri Halliwell — Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls — and Horner himself became a personage fig done his prominence connected Netflix's F1 docuseries "Drive To Survive," wherever his bitter rivalry with Mercedes' Toto Wolff was a cardinal crippled point. He and F1 champion Max Verstappen were booed astatine the play motorboat successful London successful February.

Horner oversaw 8 F1 drivers' titles — 4 for Sebastian Vettel and 4 for Verstappen — and six constructors' titles during his clip with the team.

But McLaren has dominated this play successful F1, portion Red Bull's show has dipped, though defending champion Verstappen remains 3rd successful the standings and the squad is fourth.

Uncertainty for the future

Horner spent overmuch of past week fielding questions implicit Verstappen's aboriginal astatine the squad aft the Dutch operator declined to perpetrate to enactment with Red Bull for 2026. Zak Brown, brag of rival McLaren, told The Associated Press past week it would beryllium a "disaster" for Red Bull if Verstappen were to leave.

Horner is the latest successful a bid of high-profile executives to permission the squad implicit the past twelvemonth and a half. Car plan large Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin and sporting manager Jonathan Wheatley departed for Sauber, which is soon to go the Audi works team. All of these changes person followed the 2022 decease of Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire co-founder of Red Bull who created its F1 project.

The squad besides shuffled drivers, dropping Sergio Perez astatine the extremity of past play earlier a little failed experimentation with Liam Lawson arsenic Verstappen's teammate. He was successful crook replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who hasn't scored a constituent successful 5 races.

"We would similar to convey Christian Horner for his exceptional enactment implicit the past 20 years," Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull's main enforcement for firm projects and investments said successful a statement.

"With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, helium has been instrumental successful establishing Red Bull Racing arsenic 1 of the astir palmy and charismatic teams successful Formula 1. Thank you for everything, Christian, and you volition everlastingly stay an important portion of our squad history."

The announcement comes much than a twelvemonth aft Horner was accused of misconduct toward a squad employee.

An probe conducted connected behalf of the Red Bull institution dismissed the allegation, arsenic did a further probe conducted aft the worker appealed against the archetypal ruling, Red Bull said astatine the time.

Horner remained successful complaint of the F1 squad passim the full process.

Red Bull's adjacent challenge

Horner, a erstwhile operator whose racing vocation stalled 1 level beneath F1, was the youngest squad brag successful F1 astatine 32 erstwhile helium took complaint of Red Bull successful 2005 aft its genitor drinks institution bought what had been Jaguar. He's the lone person it's known since.

As squad main and CEO, Horner had unusually wide authorization for an F1 boss. He signaled past week helium expected to enactment successful complaint for a agelong clip yet.

"We person a precise choky elder management, a precise beardown structure," Horner said. "We've got spot successful depth. We don't feel, and I surely don't feel, that there's a request to alteration oregon tune it."

Horner's departure comes successful the mediate of the team's efforts to hole for 1 of the biggest regularisation changes successful F1 successful decades adjacent season. Red Bull volition marque its ain engines successful concern with Ford, a task led by Horner.

At Racing Bulls, whose cars person sometimes outperformed the main Red Bull squad this season, Alan Permane volition beryllium promoted from racing manager to squad main to capable the spread near by Mekies.

"The tone of the full [Racing Bulls] team is incredible, and I powerfully judge that this is conscionable the beginning," Mekies said successful a connection released by Racing Bulls, which did not notation Horner.

"Alan is the cleanable antheral to instrumentality implicit present and proceed our path. He knows the squad wrong retired and has ever been an important pillar of our aboriginal successes."

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