Christian Horner has been dismissed as Red Bull Racing’s team principal and CEO after a tumultuous year marked by declining Formula 1 performance and lingering off-track controversies.
The high-profile exit ends Horner’s 20-year reign at the helm of one of F1’s most successful teams, signaling a new era under tightened F1 leadership at Red Bull.
Horner, a former racing driver turned F1 strategist, was instrumental in building Red Bull Racing into a dominant force in Formula 1.
His departure follows the team’s dramatic fall in the 2025 Constructors’ Championship standings, where it now trails in fourth place, far from its title-winning form.
Adding to Red Bull’s woes were allegations of inappropriate behavior involving Horner, stemming from leaked private messages that surfaced last year.
Though internal investigations twice cleared him and Horner denied any wrongdoing, the controversy lingered, compounding the team’s internal tensions.
Laurent Mekies, previously team principal of Red Bull’s sister outfit, takes over as CEO, according to a company statement issued Wednesday.
The move reflects a deeper restructuring under Oliver Mintzlaff, who now oversees Red Bull’s global sports investments following the 2022 death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Red Bull, which generates €11.2 billion ($13.1 billion) annually, mostly through energy drink sales, devotes nearly 25% of that to marketing, including high-profile sports sponsorships and Formula 1.
“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Mintzlaff said in a formal statement.
The leadership shake-up lands at a pivotal moment as Red Bull Racing confronts fierce competition and evolving corporate oversight in a sport increasingly shaped by global viewership and digital media.
