During a farewell address to team personnel at Red Bull’s F1 Milton Keynes headquarters, Christian Horner shared that the news of his dismissal from team operations “came as a shock” to him.
On Wednesday morning, the F1 community was rocked by the bombshell report that Horner was relieved of his duties as Red Bull team principal and CEO, effective immediately. The news broke just days after the British Grand Prix.
Laurent Mekies has been confirmed as Horner’s replacement, taking over as CEO and team principal at Red Bull after a stint at the helm of the sister team, Racing Bulls.
Horner was the longest serving team principal on the grid, having joined the fledgling Red Bull Racing project in 2005 as they began their F1 operations. The Briton was only 31 when he was appointed, becoming the youngest team principal in the history of the sport.
From humble beginnings, the team grew into a modern-day racing powerhouse over the past two decades. Under Horner’s leadership, Red Bull experienced two dominant eras, securing six constructors’ championships and eight drivers’ titles, shared between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
Horner gives emotional farewell speech after 20 year tenure
Addressing the Red Bull employees at the factory, Horner revealed he was informed of his axing on Tuesday.
“Yesterday I was informed by Red Bull that, operationally, I will no longer be involved with the business or the team moving forward from after this gathering,” he said at the beginning of his farewell speech.
“I will still remain employed by the company, but operationally, the baton will be handed over.
“And that obviously came as a shock to myself, but what I’ve had time to do is to reflect over the last 12 hours or so. I wanted to stand in front of all of you to break this news and just express my gratitude to each and every single member of the team that has given so much during the last 20 and a half years that I’ve been here.
“When I arrived 20 years ago, with a few less grey hairs, I walked into the team, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was immediately welcomed. And out of two rundown buildings, we started to build what became a powerhouse in Formula 1. Watching and being part of this team has been the biggest privilege in my life.”
