The Austrian bombshell exploded on Wednesday morning: after 20 years of working together, one of the dominant teams in Formula 1, Red Bull Racing, fired team principal Christian Horner. His departure had been discussed before due to a sex scandal, but he escaped it and was able to stay in his position. However, the management did not turn a blind eye to the team's performance this season, and thanked Horner for his two decades of work.

The team's world star, four-time world champion Max Verstappen, reacted to his boss's dismissal on his Instagram page, thanking him for the time spent together.

From my first victory to my four world championship titles, we have achieved incredible success. We have won memorable races and broken countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian

– the star driver shared his thoughts, to which he naturally shared a joint picture in which he and Horner hug and rejoice at a success.

The decision to make the change with immediate effect was reportedly made by Red Bull's managing director for sports affairs, Oliver Mintzlaff, in full agreement with Mark Mateschitz, the son of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who owns 4 percent of the company, Thai Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns 51 percent, and F1 team advisor Helmut Marko.

The Austrian team has since announced that Horner's position has been taken over by Laurent Mekies, who previously managed their B team, while Peter Bayer will remain in his current position as managing director of the subsidiary team, while the day-to-day management will be taken over by the current race director, Alan Permane. According to press reports, with Horner's departure, the future of four-time world championMax Verstappen at Red Bull may also become increasingly uncertain.

(Cover photo: Max Verstappen and Christian Horner in Lusail, Qatar on October 7, 2023. (Photo: Mark Thompson / Getty Images)