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By Saajan Jogia
Sports Contributing Writer
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Former Red Bull team principal and CEO Christian Horner is said to have gone to Red Bull's headquarters at Milton Keynes after his exit announcement. Horner addressed his team for the last time there, a goodbye that turned out to be a very emotional one.
Red Bull announced on Wednesday that it was parting ways with Horner after a 20-year partnership that saw six constructors' championships and eight drivers' titles. The reason for Horner's exit is not known yet, but the sudden move has surprised the F1 community, especially given the reports that his Red Bull contract was slated to run until the end of 2030.
Sky F1 commentator David Croft was outside Red Bull's factory, where he opened up about Horner's final speech to his team. He said:
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"From those that we've managed to speak to, it is a unified sense of disappointment and sadness at a man that they see has unified their team, who was never afraid to sit and have a chat to various people no matter what they did for the organization.
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"The speech that Christian Horner gave this morning to the factory we understand was hugely emotional and Christian himself was very emotional, and broke down on occasion.
"He received a massive ovation at the end of that speech from a workforce that are very loyal to him, because he has helped bring success, bonuses, and world championship glory in terms of 14 world titles during his time as team principal.
"He drove out this morning at 11:25 AM. He looked fairly impassive, just staring ahead in his car. There was no thumbs up, there were no waves. He drove out of the gates here for what now seems to be the final time."
Horner will be replaced by Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies. Alan Permane has been promoted from the role of sporting director to team principal at Racing Bulls. Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff issued a statement announcing Horner's departure. It read:
"We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years.
"With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1.
"Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history."
Mekies said in a statement:
"The last year and a half has been an absolute privilege to lead the team with Peter. It has been an amazing adventure to contribute to the birth of Racing Bulls together with all our talented people. The spirit of the whole team is incredible, and I strongly believe that this is just the beginning. Alan is the perfect man to take over now and continue our path. He knows the team inside out and has always been an important pillar of our early successes."
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