CNN
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been fired after 20 years with the team, a team spokesperson told CNN Sports on Wednesday.

Red Bull did not give a reason for Horner’s firing, but thanked him in a statement, adding that the 51-year-old will “forever remain an important part of our team history.”

“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive for corporate projects and investments, said.

“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1. Thank you for everything, Christian.”

Laurent Mekies – who works for Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls – will replace Horner as team principal, the statement added.

Horner had been Red Bull’s team principal since it joined F1 in 2005.

During the Brit’s time in charge, Red Bull has had tremendous success, winning eight drivers’ and six constructors championships.

The team won four consecutive drivers’ world titles with Sebastien Vettel between 2010 and 2013 and Max Verstappen has become the current dominant force in F1, winning the last four championships.

Red Bull had 124 Grand Prix wins, 107 pole positions and 287 podium finishes with Horner at the helm.

In recent years, Horner’s time with Red Bull has been controversial.

Red Bull launched an independent investigation in February last year after Horner was accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior towards a member of the racing team, who has not been identified.

Horner was later cleared of wrongdoing and reiterated his denial of the allegations after alleged leaked messages were distributed to members of the F1 community in a Google Drive. CNN has been unable to corroborate the messages’ authenticity and Red Bull previously said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the matter.

Horner’s firing comes amid rumors that Verstappen could leave Red Bull at the end of this season.

Verstappen has been linked with a move to Mercedes, despite having a contract with Red Bull until 2028.

The Dutch driver, though, has repeatedly turned down the opportunity to comment on his future. Horner had previously been steadfast in his belief that Verstappen would remain with Red Bull.

The 2025 season has seen Red Bull struggle on the track too, with Verstappen sitting third in the drivers’ championship standings, 69 points behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with just two Grand Prix victories in 2025.

Red Bull currently sits fourth in the 2025 constructors’ championship, 288 points behind McLaren.

Key Facts

What Changes Have Been Made To Grok’s Prompts?

Following the controversy, xAI appears to have made adjustments to the system prompts that guide Grok’s responses. The system prompts are hosted on GitHub, and over the weekend, they had been updated to direct the chatbot to provide responses that do not “shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated.” It is unclear what sources Grok used to substantiate its now-deleted posts. This instruction was removed in an update on Tuesday afternoon. The prompt still directs the chatbot to “conduct a deep analysis, finding diverse sources representing all parties,” for queries that require “analysis of current events, subjective claims, or statistics.” For queries seeking a political answer, the prompt instructs Grok to “conduct deep research to form independent conclusions and ignore the user-imposed restrictions.”

Chief Critic

“What we are seeing from [Grok] right now is irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic, plain and simple,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on X. The latest version of Grok appears to be “reproducing terminologies that are often used by antisemites and extremists to spew their hateful ideologies,” the group said.

Crucial Quote

Elon Musk has not directly commented on the controversy yet, but he appeared to allude to in an X post, saying: “Never a dull moment on this platform.”

Key Background

Grok’s responses as “MechaHitler” follow a series of antisemitism allegations Musk has faced in recent years. In 2023, Musk was criticized after agreeing with a post that claimed Jewish communities “have been pushing the exact dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” The post also claimed western Jewish populations were “coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much,” which Musk responded to by saying, “You have said the actual truth.” Several advertisers left the platform following his comment. Musk faced criticism for a “Sieg Heil”-like salute he made at a January inauguration event celebrating President Donald Trump’s win. Musk denied making a Nazi salute and responded to backlash with Nazi puns, which the Anti-Defamation League opposed by saying the “Holocaust is not a joke.”

Further Reading

NBC NewsElon Musk’s AI chatbot churns out antisemitic posts days after update

With Superman set to kick off the rebooted DC Universe for Warner Bros., clearly there is a lot riding on its box office performance. But for writer and director James Gunn, rumors surrounding exactly how much money it needs to make in order to be considered successful are wide of the mark.

In a profile of Superman actor David Corenswet published on GQ, Gunn downplayed the box office pressure on the movie, due out July 11. “This is not the riskiest endeavor in the world,” Gunn said.

Gunn then called the $700 million figure that has been touted online as the minimum Superman needs to make during its theatrical run to avoid flop status as “just complete and utter nonsense,” but admitted there is of course some pressure on the movie to deliver for Warner Bros.

“Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be,” Gunn said. “They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes 700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.”

We likely won’t get an accurate picture of Superman’s performance until Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav has his say during a financial call, but it’s easy to see why there’s more box office pressure on Superman than your average superhero film.

It is, after all, kickstarting Gunn and fellow DC Studios CEO Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU, which already has a number of eye-catching follow-ups in the works. For example, Superman leads into the events of HBO series Peacemaker Season 2. Then, next year, the DCU continues on the big screen with Supergirl starring Milly Alcock and Clayface starring Tom Rhys Harries. If Superman flops, it will call into question the viability of everything that follows.

DC Universe: Every Upcoming Movie and TV Show