Formula 1 has been hit by a pit stop as Red Bull have sacked their team principal Chritsian Horner, who has completed a 20-year-old stint with the fourth-placed team in the constructor's ranking.

The firing comes a year after his sex texts scandal involving a teammate had hit the headlines.

Laurent Mekies has been appointed as the CEO, stepping up from the Racing Bulls team.

Red Bull’s only team principal since the Austrian energy drink brand joined the F1 grid in 2005 will head out with six constructors championships.

With Horner’s replacement already named, the British team principal sees a 20-year relationship snapped after a string of lacklustre performances by Red Bull Racing. But speculation over what was the final nail in the coffin for Horner still lingers.

The backdrop

17 months ago, Horner was caught in a major sex scandal with a former assistant who shared screenshots of Horner harassing her for months on end during the 2023 season. The texts were filled with inappropriate messages as the principal was eventually cleared twice – first by a team of internal investigators at Red Bull and then an external investigation.

Horner, who is married to Geri Halliwell aka Ginger Spice, was under fire last year with the sex scandals. He, however, stood his ground and denied all claims and walked into the paddock with his wife on the day of the judgement.

Right in the middle of the 2024 season was another major setback for Red Bull. Adrian Newey, known to be the best aerodynamics engineer in F1, left the team. Newey, who built every Red Bull car since 2006, left for Aston Martin.

The Newey-Horner partnership was responsible for bringing all six of Red Bull’s constructors and eight drivers championship won by Sebastian Vettel and then Max Verstappen.

Horner’s legacy is that of Red Bull and it will be interesting to see how things move forward with Red Bull having lost several big names already. Apart from Newey, Jonathan Wheatley too left the Red Bull stable last year, resigning from his position as the Sporting director to take up the same role for Sauber.

In the last four races, Red Bull have been outscored by Sauber and their decision to sack Sergio Perez has cost them big. They first hired Liam Lawson who was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Neither of the two second-choice drivers have proven to be much support to Max Verstappen, a four-time Drivers Champions, winning each of the last four seasons.

Verstappen has been heavily linked to a seat at Mercedes next season and with Horner being sacked, Verstappen is more likely to make a move.

Replacement for Horner

Laurent Mekies – the team principal of Racing Bulls – will now take up the mantle in an attempt to save the season with Red Bull, who are currently at fourth with just 172 points. McLaren are at first, Mercedes at second and Ferrari at third, miles ahead at 210 points.