Christian Horner shares a 5-word story ahead of Red Bull's first race without him

The Belgian GP will be the first race for Red Bull without Christian Horner at the helm of the team, as the Briton was sacked by the Austrian energy drink maker a few weeks ago. With Horner not being at trackside, he shared a hilarious story on his Instagram about how he was facing a different kind of horsepower this weekend.

The 51-year-old has led Red Bull's F1 venture since the team's inception in 2005. Horner made several key hirings, which helped the Austrian team establish itself as a dominant power in F1.

On the other hand, intra-team feuds have seemingly been developing within the squad over the past 12 months, which led to the hierarchy finally pulling the trigger on Horner. As the Belgian GP was the first race weekend in over two decades that the 51-year-old was not at the pit wall for the team.

While many reckoned Christian Horner might be grieving, the Briton saw it as an opportunity to enjoy his time off from the F1 world, as he was horse riding in the countryside:

"Different horse power this Sunday 😉."

Christian Horner's Instagram story on July 27 | Source: Instagram/@christianhorner

After Horner's departure, his role was given to former Racing Bulls' team principal Laurent Mekies.

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Christian Horner's replacement at Red Bull reveals the supportive nature of the Briton

Christian Horner (L), Pierre Wache, and Laurent Mekies (R) at the F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

Laurent Mekies became the second team principal of the Red Bull squad since the team's formation in 2005. Moreover, even he was caught off guard by his predecessor's sacking, as the move came out of the blue for everyone in the paddock.

With the Red Bull team principal's offer lying on his table, many would reckon that the Frenchman would have grabbed the opportunity without any hesitation, but this was not the case. Mekies contemplated the offer and revealed how Horner had been supportive in the whole ordeal, via Sky Sports:

"It came out of the blue at that moment for me. I had to think [about] it for a few hours. It was difficult to digest but then the first thing that comes to your mind is 'wait a second, it's Red Bull, they are calling you and asking you to step into that job'. With everything Red Bull brings - its energy, spirit and how they go racing - you pick up the phone and go 'of course, it's an honor and privilege.'

"He has been nothing else but supportive, even in the extremely difficult context for him. He was the first one to text, the first one to call [after the news]. Even this morning we messaged each other again."

On the other hand, the Mekies era at Milton Keynes began with a Sprint race win by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has now qualified fourth for the Belgian GP, with Yuki Tsunoda following him into Q3 for a seventh-place qualification.