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Christian Horner Breaks Silence On Social Media After Red Bull Sacking

Christian Horner Breaks Silence On Social Media After Red Bull Sacking

Newsweek10-07-2025
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Former Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Christian Horner has opened up after his sudden exit. Horner served the team for 20 years from 2005 but was let go with immediate effect on Wednesday.
News about Horner's Red Bull departure sent shockwaves across the F1 community, especially given the team's current struggles, and as Red Bull develops its power unit for the new era beginning in 2026 under the Red Bull Powertrains banner.
Horner has been replaced by former Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies, while Racing Bulls sporting director Alan Permane was promoted to the role of team principal. Horner was said to have reached the Red Bull factory at Milton Keynes yesterday following his exit announcement, where he broke down while addressing his team. Much later, he posted a statement on Instagram, revealing that he was proud of what the team had achieved under his leadership. He wrote:
"After an incredible journey of twenty years together, it is with a heavy heart that today I say goodbye to the Team I have absolutely loved. Every one of you, the amazing people at the factory, have been the heart and soul of everything that we have achieved. Win and lose, every step of the way, we have stood by each other as one and I will never forget that. It's been a privilege being part of and leading this epic Team and I am so proud of our collective accomplishments and you all.
Christian Horner, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing waves in the Paddock prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 27, 2025 in Spielberg, Austria.
Christian Horner, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing waves in the Paddock prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 27, 2025 in Spielberg, Austria."Thanks to the amazing partners and fans who enabled us to go racing. Your support has helped grow the team from its humble beginnings to an F1 powerhouse that laid claim to 6 Constructors Championships and 8 Drivers Championships.
"Equally, thank you to our rivals, with whom there would be no racing at all. You've pushed us, challenged us, and enabled us to achieve accolades we never dreamed possible. The competition has made every victory sweeter and every setback an opportunity to develop and grow.
"Formula 1 is a sport built on relentless ambition, passion, and respect. The rivalries have been fierce, but the mutual drive to innovate and raise the bar is what has made this journey so special.
"It's been an honour to be part of this incredible era of motorsport. I leave with immense pride in what we've achieved and also with what's in the pipeline for 2026 - and huge respect for everyone who's made F1 the pinnacle it is today. Thank You."
Related: Christian Horner Closed Red Bull Chapter With Emotional Goodbye To Team
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Max Verstappen interview: On fatherhood, Red Bull's slide and the road ahead
Max Verstappen interview: On fatherhood, Red Bull's slide and the road ahead

New York Times

time2 hours ago

  • New York Times

Max Verstappen interview: On fatherhood, Red Bull's slide and the road ahead

This spring, the world learned how Max Verstappen's life changed, though not as drastically as some may have assumed. The Dutchman and his partner, Kelly Piquet, announced the birth of their daughter, Lily, ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Considering Lily is his first child, the new chapter in the reigning world champion's life triggered questions about how it might affect his performance. After securing pole position a day later in Miami, Verstappen joked, 'Clearly it didn't make me slower, being a dad.' Advertisement Adjusting to having a newborn hasn't been a shock, Verstappen told The Athletic in an interview at Red Bull's hospitality building during the subsequent Austrian GP weekend. Compared to how his FIA news conference appearances can seem tense at times, he was relaxed as he discussed this new chapter. Having a young kid around isn't actually new for him, as he's been in the life of Penelope — Piquet and former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat's daughter — since she was one year old. 'You get to understand how to live with a little one,' Verstappen said, 'and I think that has prepared me quite well for my own little girl.' But racing is the only life he's known. Verstappen comes from a racing family: his mother, Sophie, competed in karting until her initial retirement in the 1990s, and his father, Jos, became an F1 driver. The elder Verstappen still races in rally. Max became used to seeing Jos leave for a race weekend and admits he was 'quite upset about it because I wanted to join, but it also makes you understand what you have to do.' Sophie, meanwhile, took 'care of things at home.' And Piquet saw a similar dynamic in her own family with father Nelson being a three-time F1 world champion. 'It's all very natural,' Verstappen said. 'It helps a lot.' There are two big lessons he's taken from his childhood: finding free time in everyday life and having an understanding partner. Knowing Verstappen is an F1 driver is different from knowing what that entails and 'what you have to do for it to be competitive and successful.' As for that free time outside of racing, it takes meticulous planning, between the 24 F1 race weekends a year, recent GT3 tests at Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife and Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and managing his own sim racing and sportscar team. The latter two have long been goals, particularly for his post-F1 life. Advertisement Over the last year, speculation has swirled around whether Verstappen might retire early. He's contracted with Red Bull through 2028 (though there's plenty of discourse around whether he'll stay), but it hasn't stopped the rumor mill. At least in interviews with The Athletic, it doesn't seem like the Dutchman has a set year or even age in mind on when he'll leave the pinnacle of motorsport and move on to a different venture. To him, it ultimately boils down to whether he can give 100 percent and still have fun doing so. 'People sometimes hang around maybe to create more money, but at the end of the day, that doesn't come first. It's important you're here because of the hunger to win,' Verstappen said. 'Some people come here to just get the best out of their car because some don't have a winning car. But that's why I think: as long as I can do that, and I'm working with the people that I enjoy working with, then, yeah, we'll drive. 'I don't know when that will stop. Is that 32? Is that 35? 36? I don't know. It's impossible to know.' Verstappen will be 31 years old by the end of the 2028 season — 14 years in F1, after starting at 17 years old. By comparison, Lewis Hamilton is currently 40 years old with 19 years in F1, while Fernando Alonso is 43 with 22 seasons. But the conversation on retirement is more than just age. 'I feel like I'm already missing out so much on just being with my family,' Verstappen said before listing out his parents and siblings, as well as his friends. 'I spend holidays with them, but I really miss the moments of just casually rocking up for a weekend or just hanging out on the couch, sitting together on a lazy day, or just after a normal work day,' Verstappen explained. 'We live quite far apart now, (so) these kinds of moments are not possible with my life. I hope one day that it can go back to that.' Advertisement The last time he had a normal life moment like he had described, the 27-year-old said it was during his karting days. His life changed when he made the move to single-seater cars, straight into racing in Formula Three — at the age of 16 in 2014. Throughout his various career chapters, he's consistently enjoyed success and raised the bar compared to his rivals. He is the youngest driver to make an F1 debut, at 17, and the FIA then introduced a minimum age requirement for drivers. He won his first F1 race during his first grand prix weekend with Red Bull, after spending his first season and four more races at its junior team, and he holds the record for the most consecutive F1 wins (10). But this year is new, as Red Bull endures a downturn in performance. And considering that trailing McLaren is far from where it was in the dominant 2023 season, or even last year when Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive world championship, and how his personal and non-F1 racing life is evolving, it begs the question: even without winning consistently, is he still having fun? 'I'm having enough fun, yes,' Verstappen answered. 'Some bits are not fun, but the most important thing that I enjoy is driving the car. And that is fun.' Being a Red Bull driver nowadays, though, may not look like fun from the outside. The Milton Keynes-based team went from making F1 history in 2023 with winning 21 of 22 grands prix and securing 15 consecutive victories that year to now racing with a not-so-competitive car (by the top teams' standards) and sitting fourth in the constructor standings. It faces a 288-point gap to McLaren that could steadily grow during the second half of the season. Verstappen has scored 165 of the team's 172 points, as of the British Grand Prix weekend, and his last win was in May: The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. His last podium finish came in Canada, with second place to Mercedes' George Russell, and the Briton had commented afterwards that 'I don't really know how Max and I are so close to those two (McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ) because they clearly have the most dominant car.' 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So what does Verstappen find fun about F1 right now? 'Working with all the incredibly talented and smart people within the team, pushing myself in the car to get the best out of it, and the competition, naturally, with all the other drivers. Just trying to win at the end of the day,' Verstappen said. 'And of course, if you really have no chance to win anymore and I have to drive in the midfield, then fun will disappear very quickly.' Success isn't a guarantee; one day, the wins do stop. Despite Verstappen wanting to continue winning, he has learned to accept that this is not the case currently and to work through it with his team. Otherwise, that relationship might be disrupted, which could impact a driver's performance and lead to overdriving in the car. That doesn't mean Verstappen hasn't had his moments where he's not been thrilled, but he knows shouting won't work. 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'For me, you just hope that you're with the right team, and … I don't (want) to say 'luck in' — but in a way, you do 'luck in' because if you're a good driver and suddenly your team steps up, then you know that you have a winning chance,' he said. 'That's how F1 works.' The noise continues to grow around him and Red Bull. But since he was little, he's been able to tune it out — so much so that Verstappen said Jos 'initially thought I was always a bit too relaxed about it in the past when I was a kid.' The approach to handling criticism boils down to, as he put it, 'I don't care.' 'I know what I have done to get here,' he added. 'I've known what I have achieved already in this sport, and I focus on myself, the people close to me. The team and family. I do what I have to do on track, and then, besides that, just live my life outside of it with all my passions. And with my family (too). For me, I don't let it distract me (from) what I'm doing here.' Verstappen described this chapter of his life as 'something that when you're younger, you dream of.' He has become a generational talent and is navigating one of the most successful F1 careers in history. But his aspirations extend beyond F1, to having a managerial-type role — and he's had an eye on endurance racing as another chapter of his driving career. 'I'm just very happy that it's all possible. Financially, it's basically making it all happen. And at the same time, also giving young drivers a chance,' Verstappen said. 'My dream is of having a sim driver move into the real world and making it a success story, and seeing him progress, and seeing him evolve into a better driver. And also, hopefully, in the long-term, make him basically a professional driver. That he can make his living off it. 'That is the goal, and that's something that slowly we're making ways in.' In recent months, Verstappen has seen his role as team owner merge with endurance racing, as in 2025 his team is entering an Aston Martin GT3 car in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe championship, which includes the famous 24 Hours of Spa race. Verstappen himself participated in GT3 tests at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to help with its preparations. GT3 cars are built for the long haul — heavier machines that can withstand hours on the circuit. During the test at the Nürburgring, he set an unofficial lap record of the fearsome track for GT3 cars, but used a pseudonym (Franz Hermann) to give himself a calmer, more normal start to the day that he desired. He knew that if his name was on the entry list, people would show up early to watch, and he 'didn't want to make it such a big fuss.' Advertisement Verstappen says that, if he could, he would choose to be 'unknown in the world, but that's not possible anymore.' 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A post shared by (@verstappencom) A month later, he tackled Spa in a car fielded by his team, Racing. This test was 'more for myself,' Verstappen said during the Austrian GP FIA news conference, adding how he hasn't 'really driven the Aston that much up until that point. It was very early in the season, so I just wanted to get a bit more experience for myself. The guys, of course, are racing it, preparing for the 24 Hours (of Spa). But it's more for me to get more of an understanding of what we can do with the car setup-wise and (for) development.' Driving an F1 car through the Ardennes forest versus a GT3 car is 'very different,' he later told The Athletic. He said 'nothing comes close' to doing a qualifying lap in an F1 car around that track. But these outings have given him a taste of what his future could look like. Verstappen doesn't anticipate that he'll race 'a flat-out program' once he leaves F1, but endurance racing and diving more into the managerial world will most likely be his next chapter. Coaching other drivers has helped him 'learn even more about the car and engineering,' which involves speaking to the engineering team more frequently than a driver typically does alone. But what he's learned the most is patience. Advertisement Verstappen is known for his direct communication style, something that the drivers he works with are aware of. He'll share what is going right and what needs work, and that's how one improves, because 'if you can't be honest to each other or critical, then it's not going to work, because I think it's important that you can handle criticism even in the toughest of times.' And the same concept applies to Verstappen. Everyone can grow, regardless of how accomplished an athlete is. Even with four world championships and numerous F1 records to his name, Verstappen believes that there are still ways he can improve. That's the fun of motorsport. The ever-changing cars create an unpredictable constant in drivers' lives and competitors evolve as well. Every season presents a fresh challenge, one that Verstappen still finds enjoyable as his family grows. He acknowledged that 'being fully comfortable' isn't an option — there's always room for growth. 'I think that's why you never stop learning.' (Top image: Will Tullos/The Athletic/)

Can Formula 1 Go Green? Net Zero Goals & Synthetic Fuel
Can Formula 1 Go Green? Net Zero Goals & Synthetic Fuel

Bloomberg

time4 hours ago

  • Bloomberg

Can Formula 1 Go Green? Net Zero Goals & Synthetic Fuel

The excitement around Formula 1 is reaching new heights, thanks in part to Brad Pitt's upcoming film, F1, co-produced by Lewis Hamilton. Formula 1, known for its high-performance cars and 24 races across the globe, has committed to achieving a net zero carbon footprint by 2030. The goal, first announced in 2018, has now reached its halfway point. According to a newly released progress report, Formula 1 has reduced its carbon emissions by 26% as of the end of 2024, compared to 2018 levels. Ellen Jones, Formula 1's Head of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) joined Stephen Carroll and Caroline Hepker on Bloomberg Radio to discuss. (Source: Bloomberg)

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