Red Bull Racing’s team Principal and CEO, Christian Horner, has been ousted by the Formula One team after 20 years.
Horner will be replaced by Laurent Mekies, stepping up from the Racing Bulls team. Mekies will be replaced by Alan Permane at the sister team as team principal, working together with CEO Peter Bayer.
The sacking comes after last weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished 5th after starting on pole position and teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished 15th after starting at 11th.
Horner has been plagued by allegations, which he denied, of inappropriate behaviour since February last year and resulted in a female colleague being dismissed by the team.
Red Bull has seen many senior changes over the past 18 months after Adrian Newey left to go to Aston Martin and sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley left to go to Sauber.
l-r: Christian Horner with RACE TECH’s publishing director, Soheila Kimberley at last weekend’s British Grand Prix
A Red Bull spokesperson said: “Red Bull has released Christian Horner from his operational duties with effect from today (Wednesday 9 July 2025) and has appointed Laurent Mekies as CEO of Red Bull Racing.”
Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO Corporate Projects and Investments added: “We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years.
“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1.
“Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history.”
New team Principal, Mekies commented: “It has been an amazing adventure to contribute to the birth of Racing Bulls together with all our talented people. The spirit of the whole team is incredible, and I strongly believe that this is just the beginning.
“Alan is the perfect man to take over now and continue our path. He knows the team inside out and has always been an important pillar of our early successes.”
Permane added: “I feel very honoured to take on the role as Team Principal and would like to thank Oliver and Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor] for the trust they have shown in me.
“I am looking forward to working with Peter to continue the good work that both him and Laurent have done in taking this team forward.
“This is a new challenge for me, but I know that I can count on the support of everyone within them.”
