Former CEO and director of the Red Bull Racing team Christian Horner appreciated another type of “horse power” during Belgian Grand Prix. Reviewing his plans for the day of the race, Horner shared a story on his Instagram account.
The story is a video of him riding a horse, subtitles “a different horse power this Sunday”. The weekend marks Red Bull’s first race without Horner, which was abandoned from the team after the British Grand Prix.
The director of the Racing Bulls team, Laurent Mekies, was promoted to fill Horner’s position in Red Bull, and the Belgian GP marks his first race with the team based in Milton Keynes.
Although the reason for Horner’s fainting has not been revealed, Red Bull’s main advisor Helmut Marko stressed that performance problems led to his release and that the decision was taken by the general manager of Red Bull Gmbh, Oliver Mintzlaff. Newsweek sports reported his comments:
The director of the Red Bull Christian Horner racing team in the garage during the qualification before the Grand Prix de F1 in Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 5, 2025 in Northampton, United Kingdom.
Kym Illman / Getty images
“The decision was made by Oliver Mintzlaff. We informed Christian Horner of this Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race, at the same time, officially thanking him these 20 years and for these eight world championship titles.
“It was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance was not as good as it could have been.
“Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be considerably reduced, the accent being put on the race.”
Max Verstappen revealed that he had been informed of the decision to drop Horner one day before the news went, and hinted that the reason for its exit will be revealed. He said::
“I have a good relationship with them, you know, so I think it is completely normal that they inform some people from the team before it knows. I think it’s a standard practice.
“I gave them my opinion. And I keep it for me. And if they want to say more, they will do it. And you will hear about it.”
Verstappen also revealed that Horner’s release will not make the difference in his future with Red Bull, referring to the last year and a half under his direction, during which the team had trouble. He said:
“Now, I think people can have a difference in opinion here and then. And I expect it to happen because if everyone always agrees, there is a problem. You must have a difference in opinions. And yes, this is now something with which we work in a different direction. I am excited about it.
“As you said, I don’t think it matters at all for my decision in the future. And yet, the only thing that matters is that we are working on the car and do it as fast as we can do, really. And as I said, the last and a half years have not been what we want to be. Now.