Formula 1's Red Bull racing team has sacked team principal and CEO Christian Horner with immediate effect, the team announced on Wednesday. Horner has been in charge of the team since 2005 and oversaw a dominant era of racing that began in the 2010s and has been extended into the 2020s. Meanwhile, Racing Bulls team boss Laurent Mekies has been appointed as the CEO.
The sacking comes a year after Horner was cleared of misconduct following an internal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations made by a former Red Bull Racing employee.
"We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years," Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff said. "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," he added.
Horner oversaw an extremely dominant Red Bull era
Meanwhile, Horner led an extremely dominant Red Bull era as they turned from mere point scorers to world champions. Under him, the team won eight drivers' and six constructors' titles with two dominant eras. The first one saw Sebastian Vettel win four back-to-back F1 titles from 2010 to 2013 with the Red Bull also bagging the constructors' title every year in that period.
The second one came with Max Verstappen doing a four-peat, winning the F1 from 2021 onwards to 2024. During these four years, they also won two constructors' titles in 2022 and 2023.
Alan Permane promoted as Team Principal
Following Mekies' promotion as CEO of Red Bull, the Racing Bulls Director Alan Permane will be promoted to Team Principal of the Milton Keynes-based team.
Permane reflected on the promotion. "I feel very honoured to take on the role as Team Principal and would like to thank Oliver and Helmut for the trust they have shown in me. I am looking forward to working with Peter to continue the good work that both he and Laurent have done in taking this team forward. This is a new challenge for me, but I know that I can count on the support of everyone within them," he said in the Racing Bulls press release.
