Christian Horner 'broke down' in his farewell speech to Red Bull colleagues, reveals David Croft

Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull with immediate effect on Wednesday, and the news has shaken the F1 sphere. With the 51-year-old giving his farewell speech at the team's HQ in Milton Keynes, Sky Sports F1 commentator, David Croft, aka Crofty, shared that the Briton had broken down while bidding adieu to the empire he had built in his goodbye speech.

The Austrian energy drink maker had bought the failing Jaguar venture in 2005 to align Red Bull with high-adrenaline sports. Horner was deemed right for the job as he helped the Milton Keynes-based squad climb up the pecking order from being a backmarker to a championship-winning outfit.

Under the Briton's leadership, the team secured eight Drivers' titles, six Constructors' titles, 124 race wins, and many more records that it shattered. While Christian Horner was able to endure the power struggle last year, he was unable to resist the internal uproar this time around as Red Bull GmbH decided to axe him.

With the 51-year-old visiting Milton Keynes to deliver his farewell speech, which was understood to be his last time at the team's HQ, Crofty revealed that Horner was emotional on leaving his empire behind as he had even broken down during his final words:

"From those that we’ve managed to speak to, it is a unified sense of disappointment and sadness, and a man that they see has unified their team. He was never afraid to sit and have a chat to various people, no matter what they did for the organisation.

“The speech that Christian Horner gave this morning to the factory as we understand was hugely emotional and Christian himself was very emotional and broke down on occasion."

Meanwhile, Horner has not made any public comments since he departed from the team.

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Christian Horner was "impassive" on his way out of Red Bull Racing HQ

Christian Horner at the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

Christian Horner was the longest-serving team principal that F1 had ever witnessed. With the news of his sudden departure, the 51-year-old was seemingly even caught out by the collapse of his empire at his recent visit to Milton Keynes.

Crofty stated that while exiting the Red Bull Racing HQ, the ousted team principal remained impassive in his car, and said:

"He received a massive ovation at the end of that speech from a workforce that are very loyal to him because he has helped bring success, and bonuses, and world championship glory in terms of 14 world titles during his time as team principal. He drove out this morning at 25 past 11... and he looked fairly impassive, I think, just staring ahead in his car."

On the other hand, Laurent Mekies has replaced Horner at the Austrian squad, as the Frenchman now becomes the second team principal of the Milton Keynes-located squad.