Christian Horner's Red Bull Racing successor has been revealed: Who will replace him?

11:35, 09 Jul

Updated: 12:12, 09 Jul

byTim Kraaij

Christian Horner has been fired as the team principal of Red Bull Racing. A successor will replace him before the Belgian Grand Prix.

Laurent Mekies, the current team principal of Racing Bulls, is the man being promoted as the successor to Christian Horner. The Frenchman started his stint at Racing Bulls in 2024, after a period as sports director at Ferrari.

Speaking in an official press release, Mekies said: "The last year and a half has been an absolute privilege to lead the team with Peter (Bayer). 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.”

Who is the successor to Christian Horner?

Mekies is no stranger to Formula 1. The Frenchman started in F1 with Arrows, before making the switch to Minardi. This team would eventually be taken over by Red Bull and renamed Toro Rosso. There, Mekies worked as chief engineer.

Mekies left Toro Rosso in 2014 to work as a safety director at the FIA. In 2018, he made a dream move to Ferrari. There he worked as sports director. In 2023, Mekies announced his departure there, to take on the role of team principal at Racing Bulls. The team where he had previously worked.

Mekies is the successor to Christian Horner, who was fired by Red Bull this morning. Horner had been at the helm of Red Bull Racing for twenty years, but due to disappointing performance and controversy surrounding him as a person, he was increasingly under pressure.