Christian Horner can set off on a long-desired road trip around Scotland – a highlight of he and wife Geri Halliwell’s first visit to the Isle of Skye – some £80million better off after he finalised the termination of his Red Bull employment on Sunday, a departure revealed by Daily Mail Sport.
The Formula One mogul and his pop star wife Geri are embarking on what they are calling their ‘honeymoon’, 10 years after tying the knot in Woburn, Bedfordshire in a ceremony attended by the glitterati of motor racing – Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda – and Geri’s celebrity friends, including ‘Baby Spice’ Emma Bunton and comediennes Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
His work commitments in winning eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles at Red Bull had prevented a proper celebration of their nuptials before now, despite having heard good things about Skye from his former driver Mark Webber and his partner Ann Neal, who love the Hebrides.
The Horners’ preparations for the trip, however, have been interrupted by Christian spending the last few weeks negotiating his release from the organisation where he had worked for more than 20 years during two prolonged streaks, under star drivers Sebastian Vettel and then Max Verstappen, who won four titles each (so far in the case of Verstappen).
Horner has been in discussions with Red Bull boss Oliver Mintzlaff, the Austrian who once ran the RB Leipzig football team, over the severance package which – crucially – allows him to return to the sport in the next nine months, a timeline we can reveal today.
He could have asked for a bigger payout. The terms of his contract, which was due to run until 2030, suggest he might have demanded £110m but, I understand, that would have precluded him from taking on a new role in the Formula One paddock for at least a year.
Christian Horner and wife Geri will head off on a roadtrip through the Scottish Highlands after his £80m exit pay-off was sealed
The pair have been delaying their honeymoon ever since their wedding in Woburn in 2015
A source told Daily Mail Sport: ‘He did not want that. He wants the freedom to return ASAP. He is missing it a lot.’
Yes, I can confirm that he remains in contact with close friends and leading figures inside and outside his old team on a regular basis during the race weekends he has missed since being relieved of control of Red Bull 10 weeks ago.
I believe he was particularly hurt at missing the Italian Grand Prix, a showpiece at Monza that he loved, where, as Red Bull team principal and earlier as boss of his Arden team in junior formulas, he had attended for three decades.
In his heyday, he would be seen at the Derby Grill, a short drive away from the track at the wonderful Hotel de Ville, plotting this heist or that, perhaps with an old friend such as David Coulthard, businessman and TV commentator now but one of his first drivers at Red Bull.
Horner seeks a route back, for certain, being too young to fade into the sunset. He would likely want equity in a team, rather than be prone to the whims of others. To be his own master. Haas, the American team, are mooted by some decent sources as a possible destination.
Alpine, formerly known as Renault, are another possibility with Flavio Briatore, his old pal, a key figure there.
Bernie Ecclestone, 94 years old and F1’s irrepressible former impresario, has suggested to Horner in private conversations that he might be well-advised to go to MotoGP, the leading motorcycling series – to run it, to be the Ecclestone of two wheels.
For now, Horner is weighing up his options, keen to return to the garages he loves, yet not wanting to make a false move in haste.
Bernie Ecclestone, 94 years old and F1’s irrepressible former impresario, has suggested to Horner that he might be well-advised go to MotoGP
Flavio Briatore (left) could offer Horner another route out, at his team Alpine
After his successes and clear acumen, one imagines he would be in demand, even if he comes with the baggage of being a Red Bull man, and a grenade-slinger with acerbic one-liners that raised smiles but could also divide opinion. (In an increasingly bland world in F1, how could he not add a verse to the chorus?)
As well as my own conversations with Horner, whom I have known and got on with very well for our two decades shared in Formula One, albeit doing different jobs (and without £80m today in my case!), another friend of his told me: ‘He has not got head space at the moment to think directly about his next move.
‘He wants to come back to the F1 paddock, but he wants to assess how best to achieve that. He will do.
‘He is a workaholic, and so sitting about doing nothing is not what he would choose. Indeed, he didn’t choose it. It came to him out of a blue sky.’
Red Bull’s fortunes have taken an upturn in recent weeks with victories for Verstappen at Monza and on Sunday in the Azerbaijan capital Baku.
Who, ironically, can take a slice of the credit? It’s hard to say but the package was signed off in Horner’s time, before he was relieved of operational duties on July 9, three days after the British Grand Prix.
That package, which has added extra downforce, was applied at both of those successful races, as it likely will be in Las Vegas.
The importance of Geri cannot be underestimated. She has remained loyal. I was in their kitchen at their fine, renovated country pad on the Oxfordshire border a few weeks ago and her commitment to him was total, as she had previously theatrically demonstrated by walking down the Bahrain paddock last year, her hand entwined in his.
Geri has remained loyal to Christian and her commitment to him is total
The pair’s show of strength at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year after Horner’s scandal leaked
Laurent Mekies (right) was originally appointed to Red Bull’s junior team Racing Bulls by Horner – and has now taken his job
That was at the height of the ‘scandal’ he faced over accusations – which he denied and was twice cleared of internally by KCs – of coercive behaviour to a female colleague.
Geri remains his most loyal advocate, along with father Garry and mother Sara, and a devoted mum to their son Monty, 8.
Horner is resolutely supportive of Laurent Mekies, a French engineer, who has taken over at the helm of his old team. Indeed, Horner had brought him into Red Bull’s junior team, Racing Bulls, well aware of his strengths, though, it should be added, never imagining that the bespectacled boffin would replace him.
A final thought. If Verstappen were to win the title, a fifth, this year (from a long way back, it should be noted) which Skye honeymooners would allow themselves a pained, wry smile?
