In figures: Christian Horner’s collaboration with Red Bull
After twenty years of working together, Red Bull fired Christian Horner on Wednesday July 9. A look back at a fruitful and successful collaboration.
A long-term relationship. Twenty years, placing him at the top among team directors who have worked the longest with the same team. Only Franz Tost at Toro Rosso has a longevity that is almost as impressive: 18 years.
With the Austrian team, Christian Horner has accomplished great things. How can we not mention his fruitful period with Sebastian Vettel in the early 2010s? With the German, Red Bull won four drivers’ and constructors’ titles.
The Briton added others with Max Verstappen’s XXL performances. 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 regarding the drivers’ championships. 2022 and 2023 for the best single-seater.
Christian Horner and Red Bull, that’s 405 Grand Prix. That’s more than a third of the races that have been held. Of course, with such longevity, successes have accumulated: 124 victories, 287 podiums, 107 pole positions, and 100 fastest laps in the race.
With 8,009 points scored, Red Bull is the second-best team in this statistical category, just behind Ferrari. In twenty seasons, the 51-year-old man has almost always known success. He finished fifteen of them on the final podium (2025 is not counted as the season is still ongoing).
Of course, Christian Horner did not build this track record alone. He was well surrounded. Both by the staff, the engineers, the mechanics, and the drivers. Except for the early years at Red Bull, he was able to rely on a solid lineup and some incredible talents were discovered. Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly grew within the Red Bull structure.
Christian Horner will be replaced by another experienced man: Laurent Mekies. After a stint at Ferrari, he took the lead at Racing Bulls, a position he had held since the beginning of 2024.
