Red Bull and Christian Horner are set to celebrate their 400th Grand Prix start, with Horner having been in charge of the F1 team since day one.

Plans have been put in place by Red Bull GmbH to celebrate Red Bull Racing and Christian Horner’s 400th F1 race start this weekend at Imola.

Christian Horner and Red Bull to celebrate 400 races together

Horner has been in charge of the Red Bull F1 team since the arrival of the late Dietrich Mateschitz’s outfit onto the grid at the start of 2005, with Horner having only just turned 31 years old at the time of the team’s debut.

Over the past two decades, Horner has led Red Bull to a total of eight Drivers’ Championships, six Constructors’ Championships, and over 120 Grand Prix wins.

While Red Bull may no longer be the dominant force in F1, having been overtaken by McLaren over the past 12 months, the RB21 has proven a competitive car as Max Verstappen claimed victory in Japan with the Dutch driver hanging on to the McLaren drivers in the championship.

Red Bull is set to celebrate its 400th race start this weekend at Imola, with planning also gone into marking Horner’s achievement as he has been at the helm since the very start. Imola actually marks Red Bull’s 401st race weekend in F1 but neither car took the start of the 2005 United States Grand Prix as tyre concerns forced the withdrawal of three-quarters of the grid.

Christian Horner retains the full support of Red Bull shareholders

But, at a time of celebration for Horner and Red Bull, he travels to Imola amid a wave of speculation that his job is in jeopardy – speculation that has been dismissed as being without basis in fact by sources close to the situation, who also suggested the speculation is aimed at overshadowing the celebratory weekend.

Last week, a report in Italy’s AutoSprint suggested Horner may lose the support of the majority Thai shareholding of Red Bull, headed up by Chalerm Yoovidhya, if the upgrade plans for Imola fail to noticeably transform the team’s competitiveness and championship prospects.

Separate reporting from Austria’s OE24 has suggested that Horner retains the full support of the Thai shareholders but could lose the support of the Austrian minority shareholders headed up by Mark Mateschitz, Dietrich’s son, who holds 49 per cent of Red Bull GmbH.

But, rather than Red Bull rolling out with a major upgrade package, it’s understood the team will be bringing along parts aimed at further continuous evolution of the RB21.

This evolution started with undercar tweaks in Saudi Arabia, while revisions made to the front suspension and the rear of the RB21 in Miami – which didn’t require declaration due to not being of significant aerodynamic benefit – combined with a revised floor design that was utilised by Max Verstappen in what was a low-risk rollout which added a “few kilos of load”.

Further subtle tweaks, rather than a major upgrade, are expected to be made at Imola, with Yuki Tsunoda also set to be moved onto the same floor specification as Verstappen.

But the success of these updates won’t affect Horner’s future with Red Bull, it’s understood, and that the success he’s achieved over the years with Red Bull means a short-term dip in the team’s relative competitiveness is of no concern to the shareholders.

Horner is contracted to Red Bull until the F1 2030 season and, earlier this year, said his commitment to the team remains “absolute”.

The rumours surrounding Horner, from both Italian and Austrian reports, have suggested Oliver Oakes and Franz Tost as potential replacements for Horners.

Oakes’ whereabouts are currently unknown having headed to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates immediately following the Miami Grand Prix, days after his brother William was arrested and charged with transferring criminal property while in possession of a large amount of cash.

Both Oakes brothers are listed as directors at the Hitech GP company which has teams across several junior categories of formula racing.

Oakes resigned from his role as Alpine team boss last week, citing personal matters as the reason for his departure.

Tost headed up Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, until the end of 2023, with the 69-year-old opting for retirement as he made clear his desire to step away from the pit wall following that season.

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While Red Bull’s dominance of recent years has come to an end, the team’s recent dip in form is understood to be of no particular concern for its shareholders, particularly in what is a transitionary period for Red Bull.

Following the departure of long-time technical chief Adrian Newey, who took a short break from F1 before taking up a new challenge at Aston Martin, and the move of long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to take a team principal role at Sauber/Audi, Red Bull has looked inwards to place its faith in existing talent to lead it into the new era incoming in F1 2026.

Along with Horner being a director of Red Bull Racing, the British businessman also heads up its engineering company division Red Bull Advanced Engineering, and the burgeoning Red Bull Powertrains which, partnering with Ford, will transform Red Bull Racing into a fully autonomous factory effort.

It’s not the first time rumours have suggested Horner has lost the support of Yoovidhya. Last year, following the internal investigation into allegations of Horner’s behaviour with a team employee, German media sources suggested Horner had lost the support of Yoovidhya and was set to be dropped as team boss.

This obviously did not happen, with sources at the time dismissing the speculation as “idle gossip”.

Aside from the pressures of retaining its usual operational and technical sharpness, as well as building up its forthcoming engine project, an apparent challenge for Horner will be proving to Verstappen that the Milton Keynes-based squad remains the best place for his future success.

Verstappen is under contract until the F1 2028 season, but has been continuously linked with big-money moves to rival teams such as Mercedes and Aston Martin.

Should Verstappen choose to move away from Red Bull at any point before the end of his contract, his departure would be a big blow for Red Bull but it’s understood this too would not affect Horner’s support with the shareholders.

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