Red Bull Racing has fired Christian Horner after two decades in charge.
The Formula 1 team announced it had removed its longtime team principal on Wednesday amidst a turbulent season that could ultimately lead to the departure of Max Verstappen. Horner has been the longest-serving team principal in F1.
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“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Red Bull executive Oliver Mintzlaff 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.”
RB team principal Laurent Mekies will take over as the CEO of Red Bull Racing. Mekies has been in charge of Red Bull’s junior F1 team. RB racing director Alan Permane will take over for Mekies as the team principal at RB.
Horner’s departure comes after Verstappen qualified on pole for the British Grand Prix despite a car that he fought all weekend. Verstappen was passed for the lead by Oscar Piastri early in the race and spun from second on a wet restart before coming back to finish fifth.
Verstappen, the four-time defending F1 champion, is third in the points standings behind Piastri and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Verstappen is 69 points behind Piastri and 61 points behind Norris.
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More troubling for Red Bull, however, is its spot in the constructors standings. The team is fourth behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes with 172 points. All but seven of those points have been scored by Verstappen as the team’s second driver performance has been a massive issue.
Liam Lawson was tabbed to take over as Verstappen’s teammate at the start of the season. However, he lasted just two races at Red Bull as he struggled with the car. Yuki Tsunoda was promoted from RB — with Lawson going back to the junior team — and Tsunoda hasn’t been faster at Red Bull than he was in the RB.
Tsunoda has scored those other seven points across three of his nine starts. He hasn’t finished better than ninth for the team and is on a run of five straight races without a point. Lawson, meanwhile, has scored 12 points over those five races and is now higher than Tsunoda in the standings.
