Christian Horner 'broke down' in final message to Red Bull F1 staff

Christian Horner reportedly “broke down” with emotions while delivering his farewell message to the Red Bull F1 staff.

Red Bull communicated on Wednesday that it had parted ways with Horner, ending the Briton's 20-year association with the team.

Horner has overseen the day-to-day operations at Red Bull since the squad's inception in 2005.

In that time, it has enjoyed huge success with eight drivers' titles, six constructors' championships and 124 grand prix wins.

Following news of his exit, Horner travelled to the Red Bull F1 campus at Milton Keynes to say his goodbyes.

Reporting live from outside Red Bull's factory, Sky F1 commentator David Croft outlined that emotions ran high as he said his final message.

“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 organisation,” Croft said.

“The speech that Christian Horner gave this morning to the factory we understand was hugely emotional.

“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.”

Sky Sports also reported Horner was present at the Milton Keynes factory for 90 minutes on Wednesday morning before exiting. 

“He drove out this morning at 11:25 AM,” Croft added. “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.”