Red Bull abruptly dismissed long-lasting team director Christian Horner on Wednesday and ended a 20-year stint that included eight Formula 1 Titles of drivers and recent unrest that the team fluctuated on and out of the track.
Red Bull gave no reason on Wednesday for the decision in a statement, but thanked Horner for his work and said that he “will remain an important part of our team history forever.”
Laurent Mekies Van Sister Team Racing Bulls will replace Horner in his role as team head and chief executive of the Red Bull team.
Mark Thompson via Getty images
“From my first race victory to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes. Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thanks for everything, Christian!” F1 champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull posted on social media.
Horner has been Red Bull Team Principal since the F1 came in as a full constructor in 2005. He had his team and media tasks last week as normal in the British Grand Prix.
His wife is Geri Halliwell – Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls – and Horner herself became a celebrity figure because of his fame on Netflix’s F1 Docuseries “Drive to Survive”, where his bitter rivalry with Mercedes’ Toto Wolff was an important plot point. He and Verstappen were hunted At the seasonal launch in London in February.
Aaron Chown/PA via AP, Pool
Horner supervised eight F1 drivers – four for Sebastian Vettel and four for Verstappen – and six constructors titles during his time with the team.
But McLaren dominated in F1 this season, while Red Bull’s performance has been immersed, although defending champion Verstappen remains the third in the rankings and the team is fourth.
Uncertainty for the future
Horner spent a large part of last week Ask questions about the future of Verstappen At the team after the Dutch driver, they refused to stay with Red Bull before 2026. Zak Brown, boss of rival McLaren, told The Associated Press it last week would be a “disaster” for Red Bull if Verstappen would leave.
Horner is the last in a series of controversial managers who leave the team in the last year and a half. Auto design Great Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin and sports director Jonathan Wheatley left for Sauber, which will soon be the Audi Works team. All these changes have followed the death of 2022 Dietrich MateschitzThe billionaire co-founder of Red Bull who has founded his F1 project.
The team also shuffled drivers and fell Sergio Perez At the end of last season before a short failed experiment with Liam Lawson as a teammate of Verstappen. He was in turn replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who did not score a point in five races.
“We want to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work in the last 20 years,” said Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of Red Bull for business projects and investments in a statement.
“With his tireless dedication, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he played an important role in setting up 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 towards a team employee.
An investigation conducted on behalf of the Red Bull company rejected the allegation, as did a further investigation Led after the employee appealed to the first judgment, Red Bull said at the time.
Horner remained the management of the F1 team throughout the entire process.
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File
Red Bull’s next challenge
Horner, a former driver whose racing career ran a level under F1, was the youngest team boss in F1 at the age of 32 -when he took the lead over Red Bull in 2005 after the parent drink company was bought some Jaguar. He is the only leader who has been known since then.
As a team head and CEO, Horner had unusually broad authority for an F1 boss. He indicated last week that he would expect that he would remain in charge for a long time.
“We have a very tight senior management, a very strong structure,” said Horner. “We have in -depth strength. We don’t feel, and I certainly don’t feel that it is necessary to change it or to coordinate.”
Horner’s departure comes in the middle of the team’s efforts to prepare for one of the Largest rule changes in F1 in decades Next season. Red Bull will make his own engines in collaboration with Ford, a project led by Horner.
At Racing Bulls, whose cars have sometimes surpassed the most important Red Bull team this season, Alan Perman is promoted from racing director to team head to fill the hole that has been left by Mekies.
“It is an honor to be part of this group of brilliant people who embody the Red Bull spirit,” Mekies said in a statement. “Together we will achieve great results, building on the incredible legacy left by Christian Horner during his two decades that are in charge.”
AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/autoracing
