By JAMES ELLINGWORTH, Associated Press
Red Bull abruptly fired longtime team principal Christian Horner on Wednesday, ending a 20-year stint that included eight Formula 1 drivers’ titles and recent turmoil that rocked the team on and off the track.
Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his work and said he will “forever remain an important part of our team history.”
Laurent Mekies of sister team Racing Bulls will replace Horner in his role as chief executive of the Red Bull team.
“From my first race win, to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes. Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian!” F1 champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull posted on social media.
Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005. He had performed his team and media duties as normal throughout the British Grand Prix last week.
His wife is Geri Halliwell — Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls — and Horner himself became a celebrity figure through his prominence on Netflix’s F1 docuseries “Drive To Survive,” where his bitter rivalry with Mercedes’ Toto Wolff was a key plot point. He and Verstappen were booed at the season launch in London in February.
Horner oversaw eight F1 drivers’ titles — four for Sebastian Vettel and four for Verstappen — and six constructors’ titles during his time with the team.
But McLaren has dominated this season in F1, while Red Bull’s performance has dipped, though defending champion Verstappen remains third in the standings and the team is fourth.
Uncertainty for the future
Horner spent much of last week fielding questions over Verstappen’s future at the team after the Dutch driver declined to commit to stay with Red Bull for 2026. Zak Brown, boss of rival McLaren, told The Associated Press last week it would be a “disaster” for Red Bull if Verstappen were to leave.
Horner is the latest in a series of high-profile executives to leave the team over the last year and a half. Car design great Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley departed for Sauber, which is soon to become the Audi works team. All of these changes have followed the 2022 death of Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire co-founder of Red Bull who created its F1 project.
The team also shuffled drivers, dropping Sergio Perez at the end of last season before a brief failed experiment with Liam Lawson as Verstappen’s teammate. He was in turn replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who hasn’t scored a point in five races.
“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive for corporate projects and investments said in a statement.
“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1. Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history.”
The announcement comes more than a year after Horner was accused of misconduct toward a team employee.
An investigation conducted on behalf of the Red Bull company dismissed the allegation, as did a further investigation conducted after the employee appealed against the initial ruling, Red Bull said at the time.
Horner remained in charge of the F1 team throughout the entire process.
Red Bull’s next challenge
Horner, a former driver whose racing career stalled one level below F1, was the youngest team boss in F1 at 32 when he took charge of Red Bull in 2005 after its parent drinks company bought what had been Jaguar. He’s the only leader it’s known since.
As team principal and CEO, Horner had unusually broad authority for an F1 boss. He signaled last week he expected to stay in charge for a long time yet.
“We have a very tight senior management, a very strong structure,” Horner said. “We’ve got strength in depth. We don’t feel, and I certainly don’t feel, that there’s a need to change or tune it.”
Horner’s departure comes in the middle of the team’s efforts to prepare for one of the biggest rule changes in F1 in decades next season. Red Bull will make its own engines in partnership with Ford, a project led by Horner.
At Racing Bulls, whose cars have sometimes outperformed the main Red Bull team this season, Alan Permane will be promoted from racing director to team principal to fill the gap left by Mekies.
“The spirit of the whole (Racing Bulls) team is incredible, and I strongly believe that this is just the beginning,” Mekies said in a statement released by Racing Bulls, which did not mention Horner.
“Alan is the perfect man to take over now and continue our path. He knows the team inside out and has always been an important pillar of our early successes.”
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing