Christian Horner has been cleared of allegations made against him by a female employee. Horner has denied any wrongdoing over the matter and Red Bull said the “grievance has been dismissed”.
The team principal of Red Bull had previously dreamed of becoming a Formula 1 driver himself, but moved into team ownership and eventually led one of the most successful F1 teams in recent years. Since its inception in 2005, Red Bull has secured six constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ championships under Horner’s watch.
Who is Christian Horner?
Christian Horner is the team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing and a former racing driver himself. Born on 16 November 1973, his family were already involved in the car industry. Horner’s grandfather worked as a purchasing manager for Standard Motor Company, before helping Garry Horner - Christian’s father - to create an agency which supplied components to motor manufacturers.
Horner started his career as a racing driver competing in the British Formula Renault Championship, British Formula 2 and British Formula 3, before taking a step back from driving in 1997 at the age of 25.
He made history when he became the youngest-ever F1 team principal when he joined Red Bull Racing in 2005 at 31 years old. Having led the team since, Horner is also the longest-serving team principal on the F1 grid.
Christian Horner racing career
Like many, Christian Horner’s racing career began in karting before he achieved his Formula Renault scholarship in 1991. He was then given a British Formula Renault Championship seat with Manor Motorsport in 1992, where he ended the season as a race winner and was the highest-placed rookie.
The following year he finished second in the Class B Championship of British Formula 3 for P1 Motorsport, after winning five races. He moved to Fortec in 1994, ADR in 1995 and then TOMs in 1996, but was unable to secure any further race victories in the championship. In 1996, Horner also competed in the British Formula 2 championship before moving up to Formula 3000 in 1997.
Alongside his father, Garry Horner, Christian founded the Arden team to compete in the championship. He raced in both the 1997 and 1998 Formula 3000 but scored just one point in the two years - finishing 21st in 1997 and 33rd the following year.
Christian Horner - Arden ownership
Arden was set up by Christian Horner in January 1996. According to Horner, he used borrowed money, including a loan from his father, to set up the team, as well as persuading P1 Motorsport founder Roly Vincini to become the team’s race engineer.
He also purchased a second-hand trailer from Helmut Marko, who was head of the Red Bull junior team in Formula 3000 and at the time was one of Horner’s biggest rivals. He competed in 1997 and 1998, being joined in the latter by Kurt Mollekens, who at one stage led the championship.
In a pre-season test at the Circuit de Estoril in Portugal, Horner was behind Juan Pablo Montoya when he realised that he was “not capable of replicating the level of commitment” shown by the other driver. This helped him solidify his decision to step back from driving at the end of the season and focus on building Arden to be a successful team, as its team principal.
After making the decision to retire, Horner then signed Viktor Maslov and Marc Goossens to compete for the team in the 1999 Formula 3000 season. At the start of the year, a 50% stake in the team was purchased by Dave Richards’ Prodrive organisation on behalf of Lukoil - a Russian oil company run by Maslov’s father - but Horner purchased back these shares after just one season.
Goossens was replaced for the 2000-2001 season by Darren Manning, who scored one pole and two podium finishes. The team also competed in the Italian Formula 3000 with Warren Hughes in 2000, where they won three races and finished second in the championship.
In 2002, Arden secured the team championship with Tomas Enge and Bjorn Wirdheim, taking five victories between each other - four for Enge and one for Wirdheim, with Enge winning the drivers’ championship before being demoted to third place after failing a drug test.
Arden retained the championship in 2003 and again in 2004, where they also secured the drivers’ championship with Vitatonio Liuzzi, who was brought to the team by his manager Helmut Marko, with sponsorship from Red Bull.
Christian Horner stayed as the Arden team principal until 2005 when he then became the team principal for Red Bull Racing in Formula 1. Horner’s father Garry continues to manage Arden’s racing and commercial operations.
Christian Horner - Team principal for Red Bull Racing
Christian Horner became the Red Bull team principal in 2005, for its inaugural year in Formula 1. The Austrian energy drink company purchased the Jaguar F1 Team in 2004 and Horner was then appointed just eight weeks before the start of the season in Australia. The team were able to score 34 points with its drivers David Coulthard and Christian Klein, which was a big jump from Jaguar’s nine points in the previous year.
Horner also recruited Adrian Newey as the team’s chief technical officer in 2005 - a move which has helped the team achieve great success over the last 19 years. Red Bull took its first podium at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, which resulted in Horner jumping into a swimming pool wearing just a Superman cape.
In 2007 Red Bull competed with the RB3 - the first car designed by Newey - however, the team continued to struggle with reliability issues, including 14 retirements and just one podium. In 2008 the team finished seventh in the constructors’ championship before finishing second in 2009 with drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finishing second and fourth respectively.
Victory finally came for Red Bull in 2010, when they won their first constructors' championship and Sebastian Vettel also secured the drivers' championship - making him the youngest world champion at 23 years and 133 days old. The victories also made Horner the second-youngest team principal to win an F1 constructors’ championship at 36, just behind Colin Chapman who took the title with Lotus in 1963 at 34 years old.
Red Bull Racing took both titles again in 2011, 2012 and 2013, with Vettel also securing each of the drivers’ world championships alongside the team’s victories. The team did not see championship victory again until 2021 when Max Verstappen won his maiden drivers' championship during an intense battle with Lewis Hamilton in the final race of the season.
In 2022 and 2023, Red Bull secured both the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships, with their drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking a 1-2 place last year.
Horner has also been awarded an OBE in 2013 and a CBE in 2024 for his services to motorsport.
Who is Christian Horner married to?
Christian Horner married Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell in 2015 and the pair share one son - Montague (7). Horner also has a daughter - Olivia (10) with his ex-partner Beverly Allen who he was with for 14 years. He is also the stepfather to Halliwell’s daughter Bluebell Madonna (17), from her previous relationship with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.
What is Christian Horner’s net worth?
Christian Horner’s net worth is an estimated $50 million (£40m), with his salary also reportedly above $10m (£8m) per year as team principal of Red Bull Racing. His estimated salary makes him the highest-paid F1 team principal.
