Red Bull name Christian Horner’s replacement after shock sacking

Horner was fired earlier this morning

Red Bull's Christian Horner has been relieved of his duties as Team Principal at the F1 team. 

In a statement, Red Bull said: "We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years. 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, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history."

He has been replaced by Laurent Mekies, who previously worked as the team principal at Red Bull's sister team Racing Bulls.

News of Horner's sacking comes a year after Horner was accused of controlling behaviour by a female member of staff at the team.

Horner has always denied the claims and the 51-year-old was cleared during two independent investigations.

In his more than 20 years with the Formula One team, Horner oversaw a period of unprecedented success.

This reached a peak during the past 5-years, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen winning the last four consecutive F1 Drivers' Championship titles.

Red Bull also won four titles in a row with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013.

Despite Horner's past successes, this F1 season has been one to forget for Red Bull.

Verstappen currently sits 69 points adrift from the top of the drivers's leaderboard and the star driver has been heavily linked with a move away from the racing team.