Christian Horner's supportive role in F1 Academy revealed

F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff has revealed why she will always be 'grateful' to ex-Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

The 51-year-old was sacked from his day-to-day role at Red Bull after this year's British Grand Prix, following a dip in performance for the team under his leadership throughout the 2025 season.

His official departure was then confirmed in September, with Horner ending his time with the Milton Keynes squad after agreeing an eye-watering payoff and a shorter period of gardening leave that could see him return to the paddock during the 2026 season.

Regardless of how and when Horner returns to the F1 paddock, it seems Wolff would welcome him back if it meant he continued to show his support for all-female racing series, F1 Academy.

In a recent interview with The Times, Wolff revealed that Horner did show support for her all-female series, despite his rivalry with her husband and Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff.

When asked how she felt about Horner's F1 exit and the circumstances around his final seasons at Red Bull, Wolff said: "Christian was supportive of F1 Academy, and for that I’ll always be grateful.

“It was a real shame for the sport - the whole drama that was created with the allegations. We were getting so much positive momentum with F1 Academy, and that all kicked off and suddenly everyone wanted to interview me about that.

"He was someone that played a character very well. But I do think that incident maybe wasn’t the best for the image of the sport and showed that we’ve still got work to do."

What's next for F1 Academy?

The all-female racing series was first introduced in 2023 and is still going strong.

But despite the drivers and the series itself being backed by F1 teams, few drivers go out of their way to support the young racers, with only seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton spotted frequently checking in across a race weekend.

To succeed where previous championships like the W Series did not, F1 Academy needs all the support it can get from the stars of the F1 paddock, with Wolff keen to champion young talent and give drivers the exposure they need to secure better opportunities on their journey up the formula series ladder.

In 2025, F1 Academy's reputation has been handed two positives, with the drivers handed their own Drive to Survive-style documentary earlier this year to tell the inspirational stories of some of motorsport's up and coming talent.

On top of this, the show-stopping season finale weekend is set to take place at the Las Vegas strip between November 20 and 22, running alongside the F1 grand prix programme, in another bid to help grow the profile of F1 Academy.

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