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Red Bull star Max Verstappen shared a profound message for Christian Horner as the 51-year-old leaves the Milton Keynes-based team after 20 successful years. The Red Bull Team Principal and CEO was let go by the team on July 9, 2025, effective immediately.
Horner has been an integral part of Red Bull, being at the team since it was founded in 2005 when the energy drinks company bought the Jaguar F1 team. Horner, along with Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko, helped make the team as successful as it is.
Since Verstappen made the move to Red Bull in 2016, Horner has been his teammate. The Team Principal played a crucial role in grooming the youngster and turning him into an F1 world champion. The Dutchman scored his first F1 win in his debut race with the Milton Keynes-based team at the 2016 Spanish GP.
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Max Verstappen and Christian Horner would go on to dominate the early 2020s, winning four driver titles in a row and two constructors' championships. All 65 of Verstappen's wins and 117 podiums in F1 have come with Horner as the team principal.
Verstappen recently came out and uploaded a post on X and Instagram as he thanked Horner for the success and memories. The Dutchman uploaded a photo of him hugging the former Team Principal.
Max Verstappen wrote, “From my first race win, to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes. Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian!”
VCARB Team Principal Laurent Mekies will be replacing Christian Horner at Red Bull Racing. Meanwhile, Alan Permane has been promoted into the Team Principal's role at VCARB.
Max Verstappen's manager’s response to Christian Horner's sacking
Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, came out last year amid the power struggle at Red Bull and suggested that Horner needed to be removed or else the team would be “in danger of being torn apart”.
Recent reports also claimed that Max met with Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in the lead-up to Horner's sacking. Amid all this, Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen issued a statement which read:
“We were informed in advance by Red Bull's management that this decision had been taken,” (via De Telegraaf)
“It is up to Red Bull to give a further explanation as to the rationale. We continue to look at the sporting side and are looking for more performance so that we can return to the top. In that respect, nothing will change,” he added.
Martin Brundle came out after the sacking and believed that the exit was due to the team's subpar performance.
