Christian Horner loving life without F1 after £67m payoff – but competitive fire still burns

CHRISTIAN HORNER was one of the faces of Formula One for more than 20 years, yet he appears to be relishing life without it.

Ahead of the release of his new book, Drive, the marmite ex-Red Bull chief has embarked on a UK tour talking to fans across the country. 

The first of them was at the York Barbican, where I was in attendance to see what life without F1 looked like for Horner. 

Horner appeared to be a man who had a bounce in his step – perhaps something to do with his £67million Red Bull termination fee – as he walked on stage to cheers from a supportive crowd including two of his kids, Monty, 9, and Olivia, 12.

He had a lot to cover in the two-hour chat, having adapted to life in a slower lane since he was unceremoniously booted out of the motorsport in July 2025.  

Several topics were discussed, including rumours of his return – a popular idea among those present – to the paddock, how he managed driver partnerships like Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, talks with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, his rivalry with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and what he has been up to with his new-found free-time.

He candidly spoke about how he suffered “panic attacks” due to anxiety in the early 2010s, including during a race in Germany, his “brutal” Red Bull sacking and subsequent first time in the F1 paddock at Silverstone earlier this year.

In lighter moments there was talk about his relationship with Geri, including how he owns horses named after Spice Girls songs and how the band funded his early racing career. 

Horner also lifted how he lured Adrian Newey to Red Bull with the help of a David Coulthard charm offensive on Newey’s wife, a double-your-money salary offer and piloting an Alpha Jet while hungover during a lavish Salzburg red-carpet trip.

The elephant in the room was the sexual harassment allegations against him by a former Red Bull employee, which he always denied and was cleared of following two investigations.

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There was a fan Q&A which threatened to touch on the topic, but the questions were cherry-picked from a QR code fans could scan during the interval.

Horner insisted he was “at peace” with his change of lifestyle since his unceremonious exit from the sport, and reaffirmed his previous answer that he would only return for the right deal, which he hinted would be ownership by saying he wants to be able to “turn the lights on”.

Love him or loathe him, Horner has always been a good public speaker, and, listening to the man in person, it is difficult not to be sucked in by that charisma. 

However, there were times when that famous competitive fire burned through, particularly when talking about Wolff and the efforts made by Red Bull to build their own engine, which timely powered Max Verstappen to back-to-back victories before the tour.

There’s more to come from Horner, so watch this space.