Red Bull severs final Christian Horner ties as Austrian influence grows

The final links between Christian Horner and Red Bull have been severed, with the ex-F1 team boss officially removed as a director of the organisation.

His place has been taken by Stefan Salzer, Red Bull GmbH’s global head of human resources.

Christian Horner has been officially replaced as Red Bull director

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher.

Documents filed with Companies House in the United Kingdom confirm that Horner’s tenure at the head of Red Bull Racing is now officially over.

While he was unceremoniously dumped in the days following the British Grand Prix, he admitted in his own exit speech to staff that he remained a Red Bull employee – one without an operational role.

As part of that, he remained listed as the director of both Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology Limited, the latter the holding company for the F1 operation. He has now been removed from his director roles in both companies.

Horner was appointed a director of Red Bull Racing in March 2007, alongside Helmut Marko as the only other active director – until today.

In the Technologies business, Horner became a director in 2010, with finance director Alistair Rew the only other active member (the 62-year-old is also a director of several other Red Bull F1-related businesses).

However, a new name has now been added to both businesses: Stefan Salzer.

The Austrian was appointed to both Red Bull Technology and Red Bull Racing on July 8, the Monday following the British Grand Prix and a day prior to Horner’s sacking.

The changes mean Red Bull Racing’s two directors are now Salzer and team adviser Helmut Marko.

Salzer is Red Bull GmbH’s global head of HR and is based out of its Salzburg office in Austria.

He joined Red Bull in 2007, following a stint with BP. He briefly served as a director of Red Bull Racing in the early months of the team’s life in 2005.

More on Red Bull post-Christian Horner

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While the development merely ties up some administrative loose ends for the F1 team, it is also marks the severance of ties with the man who delivered eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ crowns.

Horner has kept a low profile since exiting the paddock despite being linked with a hasty return.

That included suggestions he could team up with Bernie Ecclestone to acquire the Alpine F1 team, a move multiple sources have told PlanetF1.com is far from reality.

For a time, Horner was also touted as a potential replacement for Fred Vasseur at Ferrari, though the Scuderia has put that to bed by extending the Frenchman’s current contract.

The 51-year-old is expected to return to the paddock at some point, likely holding an ownership stake in a team, much as Toto Wolff does with Mercedes; the Austrian is a third owner of the organisation.

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