Christian Horner responds to departures of key Red Bull F1 duo

Christian Horner has moved to downplay the departures of two Red Bull figures ahead of the 2025 F1 season.

Design legend Adrian Newey is joining Aston Martin as managing technical partner on 2 March following the 65-year-old Briton’s decision to leave Red Bull after 20 years at Milton Keynes.

Red Bull have also lost former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who will become team principal at Sauber this season ahead of their transformation to Audi from 2026.

But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists his side can continue to be successful without Newey and Wheatley.

"There's only two going and obviously, Adrian left in Miami, so we haven't seen him. He's been working on the RB17 since then, so he's not been working on any F1 projects," Horner told Motorsport.

"Obviously, sad to see them go. They’ve both played important roles in the team over their tenure in the team.

“But the show goes on, and I think we’ve got the strength and depth we’ve got. We have that and arguably 2026 – what we're gearing up for in 2026 with our own power unit – is by far the biggest challenge and the most ambitious project this team has ever taken on. 

"So, 2025, Jonathan will step off the pitwall, but other than that, everything remains the same.”

‘Evolution’ not rebuild for Red Bull

Horner also dismissed the notion that Red Bull need to “rebuild” their team following the departures. Instead, he sees Red Bull going through a period of “evolution”.

"I would say rebuild goes way too far for two people that have left. It's evolution,” Horner explained.

"It's something that has been on the cards for a little while, so something that has been part of the planning for some time.”

Amid Red Bull’s restructuring, Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is to be promoted into an expanded role.

Horner has confirmed Lambiase will still be working as the four-time world champion’s race engineer as the Dutchman bids to match Michael Schumacher’s tally of five consecutive world titles in 2025.

"Yes, he’ll still be working directly with Max. He just takes on a broader role, obviously, as he steps up,” Horner said.

"It's just a natural progression trackside with those personnel.  It's great because it gives them an opportunity and sometimes an organisation, if it remains stagnant, it fails to progress.

“So, I think this is a fantastic opportunity of progression for many people in the team that have been long standing team members that deserve that opportunity.”