That said, the exit of a team boss after two decades at the helm is always going to make waves. According to Crash.net, 52-year-old Briton Christian Horner has revealed fresh details about how he learned of his sacking from the Red Bull Formula 1 team. His dismissal followed the 2025 British Grand Prix, coming after months of declining form for Red Bull and an internal power struggle. It also arrived 17 months after he faced allegations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour by a female colleague.
In an interview with The Athletic, Horner shared how he found out he had been fired, admitting the news came as a shock to him. One day after the British Grand Prix, Horner was called to a meeting in London that he claims was “to discuss marketing structure”.
I’m not sure I do, in all honesty. For me, it would have to be a really exciting project. It wouldn’t just be for anything.
According to Horner’s account, he arrived to see Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff, Helmut Marko, and Red Bull’s head of HR waiting for him with a press release confirming the termination of his contract laid out on the table.
“I didn’t have the inkling it was going to be dealt with so abruptly,” Horner said, insisting that he was provided no reasoning for his release beyond Red Bull wanting to “go in a different direction”.
“It was only when I really pushed to say, ‘Well then there has to be a reason’ that I was given ‘It’s more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing’,” he added.
Horner was replaced by Laurent Mekies, who was promoted from Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls. Meanwhile, speculation surrounding a possible return to F1 has ramped up in recent months, with Horner linked with the likes of Ferrari, Alpine, Aston Martin and even the Chinese carmaker BYD which has ambitions to enter the world championship.
But asked why he would want to return to the F1 paddock, Horner replied: “I’m not sure I do, in all honesty. For me, it would have to be a really exciting project. It wouldn’t just be for anything.” In a recent interview with The Times, Horner admitted that a “dream” role at Ferrari is the only job that could tempt him back without an ownership stake.
F1
F1
