Red Bull's F1 Boss Is Suddenly Out of a Job

Longtime Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was fired abruptly on Wednesday after a 20-year stint that included eight Formula 1 drivers' titles and a rise to celebrity status. Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, reports the AP, 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. Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005. He 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 F1 champion Max Verstappen were booed at the season launch 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.

Horner is the latest in a series of high-profile executives to leave the team over the last 18 months. Car design great Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley departed for Sauber. These changes followed the 2022 death of Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire co-founder of Red Bull who created its F1 project.

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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. He's the only leader it has known since. As team principal and CEO, Horner had unusually broad authority. He signaled last week he expected to stay in charge for a long time yet. "We have ... a very strong structure," Horner said. "We don't feel, and I certainly don't feel, that there's a need to change or tune it."