Red Bull Racing have confirmed the full departure of former Team Principal Christian Horner, who leaves after 20 years with the team.

Horner had left his position as boss of the Milton Keynes-based F1 team in July, with the Red Bull parent company relieving him of his duties a few days after the British Grand Prix and replacing him with Racing Bulls team boss Laurent Mekies.

Since being removed from his position, Horner had been on gardening leave, with Red Bull now confirming a full severance deal has been agreed to release Horner from the Red Bull organisation altogether.

Red Bull Racing did not confirm specific details, which has been rumoured by various sources to include a pay-off valued between £50million and £80million, which would make it one of the most expensive pay-offs to an executive in sporting history. Horner had been on a contract that had been scheduled to run until the end of the 2030 F1 season.

Reports have also suggested that the now ex-Red Bull team boss is also free to join an F1 rival team from 2026 if he wishes to return to the sport.

The 51-year-old had been appointed as team boss when Red Bull brought the struggling Jaguar F1 team and first entered the sport as Red Bull Racing in 2005. In his time, the team have been a successful force in Formula One, with Red Bull winning 124 races, 8 Driver’s Championships and 6 Constructor’s Championships with Horner as team boss.

However, Horner’s position became unsecure after a chaotic 18 months on and off-track for Red Bull Racing.

Horner was strongly accused of misconduct by a female employee of the team in allegations that became public in February 2024, although two separate tribunals later cleared Horner of misconduct and he was allowed to stay in position.

This was then compounded by a loss of key personnel at the team’s executive level, including star designer Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

There was then a significant loss of form on track, with Red Bull finishing third in last season’s Constructor’s Championship despite Max Verstappen winning the Driver’s Championship and then a slow start to the 2025 season where Red Bull were fourth at the point Horner left his position after July’s British Grand Prix.

News of Horner’s exit was confirmed the day after Red Bull achieved back-to-back race wins for the first time in 2025, with Verstappen winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix yesterday (22/09) having won the preceding Italian Grand Prix.

In a statement shared by Red Bull Racing, Horner voiced his gratitude to the organisation for their time together.

He said, “Leading Red Bull Racing has been an honour and privilege. When we started in 2005, none of us could have imagined the journey ahead — the championships, the races, the people, the memories. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved as a team breaking records and reaching heights no-one would ever believe were possible and I will forever carry that with me. However for me my biggest satisfaction has been assembling and leading the most amazing group of talented and driven individuals and seeing them flourish as a subsidiary of an Energy Drinks company and seeing them take on and beat some of the biggest automotive brands in the world.

“I wish Laurent, Max, Yuki and all of the Red Bull Technology Group the very best for the future. I am confident they will, as ever, deliver success on the track, for our fans, and continue to push to the maximum and I look forward to seeing the first Red Bull / Ford engine in the back of RB22 next year as well as the exciting RB17.

“I would like to thank our incredible sponsors and partners for their unwavering support who have played a key role in all our success. I would like to say a big thank you to the fans for their ongoing belief and without whom there would be no Formula One. Racing aside, I would also like to thank the shareholders, the late Dietrich Mateschitz for the opportunity he gave me as a 31 year old, Mark Mateschitz and Saravoot Yoovidhya and finally Chalerm and Daranee Yoovidhya for their friendship and commitment during my time at Red Bull as well as Oliver Mintzlaff and the Board for their guidance.”

Northampton Town’s winning run was ended after a 2-0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers.

The Cobblers arrived in the Chilterns on the back of 3 consecutive wins, but had no answer to a Wycombe side who tasted victory in their first game under new boss Michael Duff.

Goals by Daniel Harvie and George Abbott won the match for the Chairboys, as Kevin Nolan’s side suffered a first defeat in four outings.

Having racked up wins in recent weeks against Exeter, Leyton Orient and Blackpool, the Cobblers had arrived at Adams Park hopeful of further success against the slow-starting side from south Buckinghamshire.

Wycombe did prepare for the contest with a change, with the club sacking Mike Dodds in midweek after a slow start for a side that finished in the play-offs last season, while Duff was confirmed as his replacement two days earlier.

Perhaps keen to impress their new boss, Wycombe began on the front-foot. Lee Burge was forced into a fine save to deny Ewan Henderson, while Fred Onyedinma headed wide at the follow-up corner.

The home side took the lead in the 17th minute. Luke Leahy was given space to pick a pass, and the midfielder found full-back Harvie’s overlapping run. The Scotsman duly threaded a shot past Burge to put the home side in front.

Northampton had a few opportunities after the break, with Ethan Wheatley heading wide before Max Dyche also saw an effort just creep past the target.

But the home side would make it 2-0 with just under 20 minutes remaining. Abbott picked up Leahy’s pass and the defender did the rest, evading 3 defenders before beating Burge with a low shot.

Wycombe missed further chances to make it 3-0, with Sam Hoskins blocking one on the line and a further attempt striking the crossbar.

But the home side had made their point, while it was defeat for the Cobblers.

Northampton’s first opportunity to return to winning ways comes in an EFL Trophy match against Chelsea’s under-21 side in midweek, before their next league assignment sees them welcome Nolan’s former club Bolton to Sixfields next Saturday.

Red Bull made it back-to-back F1 race wins as Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

A dominant afternoon by the Dutch driver saw him convert pole to success, leading home runner up George Russell by just over 14 seconds.

The result meant a second win in a row for Verstappen, who had won F1’s previous race in Italy, as well as bringing him up to 4 race wins in the season after previously winning the rounds in Japan and Emilia-Romagna.

It was also a productive afternoon for his Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 6th in his best result in the 2025 season so far and his best since replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull, even if he did finish directly behind Lawson, who took 5th for Racing Bulls.

With 7 races of the F1 season, the result means that Verstappen closes the gap to the championship-leading McLarens ahead of him. The man who has won the last 4 Driver’s Championships is up to 255 points, with the Dutchman now 44 points behind second place Lando Norris and 69 behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who failed to score points after a first lap crash.

Tsunoda’s points saw him climb up to 20 points for the season, with the Japanese driver now 17th in the championship.

In the Constructor’s Championship, Red Bull remain 4th on 272 points. The Milton Keynes-based team are in a close fight for second behind runaway leaders McLaren, with the team now sat 14 points behind Ferrari and 18 behind second place Mercedes, who overtook Ferrari after taking 2nd and 4th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix compared to Ferrari’s 8th and 9th.

The race in Baku came the day after a qualifying session of extraordinary chaos, with 6 red flags – a record for an F1 qualifying session – after multiple drivers crashed over the course of the session.

Verstappen had picked up pole with a late charge to take pole position, and he lead the field away calmly enough ahead of surprise higher-up qualifiers Carlos Sainz and Lawson.

Tsunoda had meanwhile made a good start from 6th to get ahead of Russell, although the Red Bull was then re-passed by the Mercedes into turn 3.

The safety car was deployed on lap one when Piastri crashed by himself, ending a disastrous weekend where he also crashed in qualifying and jumped the start.

When proceedings resumed, Verstappen immediately settled into a move of zipping away and building a gap to the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Tsunoda continued his early duel with Russell. After the British driver had trouble on the restart, Tsunoda crept ahead of Russell, only for the Mercedes to re-pass him on lap 9 after a few laps of seeking to get past.

Both Red Bulls had started the race on hard tyres with the aspiration of going long, in a race where rain had been in the forecast, if ultimately failed to materialise.

Tsunoda was the first Red Bull to pit when he did so on lap 39, as he sought to cover an undercut attempt by Norris’ McLaren. He was able to slot back in directly between Lawson and Charles Leclerc, just before both Norris and Lewis Hamilton made moves to get ahead of Leclerc after the Ferrari’s tyres faded.

Verstappen pit on lap 41 and continued to control proceedings for the remainder of the day, coming home to take his second win in Baku after previously winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2022. Victory was the sixth Grand Slam for Verstappen, with the Dutchman having taken pole, won the race, lead every lap and set the fastest lap.

Further back, Tsunoda remained in a duel with Lawson and Norris but couldn’t make a pass on the Racing Bulls, although he was able to repel attacking moves by the McLaren behind.

Red Bull’s attention will now turn to preparing for a very different test in the next Grand Prix, as F1 heads to Singapore in two weeks time.

Police are appealing for witnesses to a robbery in Bletchley in which a phone was stolen from teenagers in the area.

The incident happened at approximately 9.10am on Wednesday morning (17/09), when a teenage girl and boy were chased by a man towards Bletchley Bus Station before he stole a phone from them.

The girl received a small cut to their hand, which did not require hospital treatment.

The offender is described by Thames Valley Police in their appeal as an Asian man, aged in his forties with thinning grey and black hair and a beard. He was wearing dark clothing at the time of the incident.

Investigating officer, DC Michael Edmonds, said, “I am appealing to anybody who witnessed this robbery or anyone who may have information that could assist our investigation to please get in touch.

“You can make a report online or by calling us on 101 quoting reference 43250475401.

“Alternatively, you can report information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via its website.”