Christian Horner is sitting in a quiet corner of the Red Bull motorhome. There is no anger in his voice but there is a certain steeliness to his words. He will not forget, he says. He will not forget the way some of his rivals in Formula One kicked him and kicked him when he was down.
He will not forget those who stood by him, either. He mentions his wife, Geri, as foremost among those and smiles at the mention of her appearance by his side in the paddock at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at a time when it felt he was being turned into the sport’s pariah.
Horner has drawn on considerable resilience and dogged defiance to emerge from the crisis that nearly engulfed him and his team back in February. He has led them to a position where their driver, Max Verstappen, could clinch his fourth successive world drivers’ title here amid the raging neon of Sin City in the early hours of Sunday morning.
That seemed a distinctly unlikely prospect when a female employee made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner, the Red Bull team principal, weeks before the start of the season and some of Horner’s rivals sensed a golden opportunity to indulge the ruthlessness that lurks just beneath a veneer of civility.
The cabal of F1 owners used to be known as The Piranha Club back in the days of Bernie Ecclestone, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis and Eddie Jordan and, as Horner fought for his professional survival, men such as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, Horner’s long-standing adversary, tasted blood in the water.
Wolff spoke openly of how he would love to have Verstappen at Mercedes and urged F1 to investigate Horner’s situation with ‘rigour’. There were tensions between Horner and Verstappen’s father and adviser, Jos. And between Horner and Red Bull’s sporting adviser Helmut Marko.
Christian Horner insisted he will not forget the way some of his rivals kicked him and kicked him when he was down
Horner describes wife Geri as having been ‘unbelievable, fantastic’ throughout the ordeal
Tensions began to mount with Jos Verstappen, the father and advisor of star driver Max
It is clear now that these relationships have been restored and rebuilt but at the time, it felt as if Horner was encircled. And because Red Bull had been so dominant for so long, because they had broken records for how comprehensively they ground their opponents to dust, many gloried in Horner’s crisis and in the idea that, finally, Red Bull might be vulnerable.
Then, on the eve of the Bahrain race, it was announced that an independent investigation carried out by an external specialist barrister had dismissed the grievance against Horner. The complainant appealed but Horner was exonerated by a new independent KC for a second time at the beginning of August.
For all those months, supported by key players within the team who made it plain to shareholders that they would leave if Horner left, Horner had fought to keep the team that he built together with a mixture of diplomacy and unwavering leadership.
Gradually, Red Bull weathered the storm and wrestled with the performance issues that afflicted them through the summer until Verstappen produced one of history’s great drives to win the Brazilian grand prix earlier this month and move within an inch of the drivers’ title.
Horner does not say this but it is clear that Verstappen winning for a fourth successive year will not only represent a remarkable triumph for the driver but also the sweetest form of catharsis for Horner.
‘What happened at the start of the year felt like a perfect storm,’ Horner says. ‘In life, it is a great lesson that the more success you have, the more of a target you become. Anything that can be used to unsettle and destabilise you and the team and the business. What disappointed me more than anything was the steps that people went to in order to try and achieve that.
‘You just stay true to yourself and I am very fortunate that I have got a tremendous family. My wife has been unbelievable, fantastic. Your partner is always the one you share your difficulties with. She has been absolutely outstanding and hugely supportive.
There were similar tensions with Helmut Marko (right), though these relationships have been restored and rebuilt
But Horner spoke glowingly of the support from those closest to him, admitting he is ‘fortunate’ to be able to call on a ‘tremendous’ family
Verstappen produced one of the sport’s greatest triumphs to win the Brazilian Grand Prix
‘She saw through a lot of things from having an outside perspective and it is good to have that weight and measure. It is hugely important. You learn about yourselves in times of difficulty and I was absolutely determined that we would navigate through the difficult waters.’
In that context, coupled with memories such as his wife having to leave their house hidden under a blanket in their car to avoid photographers’ lenses, Horner is happy to admit that if Verstappen clinches the title again, it will represent Horner’s most satisfying achievement in the sport.
‘Absolutely,’ he says. ‘There is so much noise in this paddock, whenever I have crossed that red line as you walk from the paddock into the garage, that’s your safe haven.
‘There was a lot of noise and distraction earlier in the year and then the car wasn’t performing and everyone kept their head and worked hard and we got performance on the car in the back end of the year and we have worked our way through it.
‘In times of difficulty and when stones are being thrown, it actually galvanises a team. I think there was an element of “f*** you” from the team this year. Our people were saying “we are a strong team, no matter what you throw at us, bring it on”.
‘I never felt I might have to walk away. I believed in myself. I believed in the process. I trusted in the process that was scrupulously applied by the company and I just had to trust to that. When I was on the plane to Bahrain, I didn’t know whether I was going to be at the race or not.
‘But I had to believe in the process. I have had tremendous support and backing from the shareholders and from within the company. It was actually quite emotional before the first race when I addressed the factory. I do the usual summary of the testing and what the objectives are going into the season and it was absolutely rammed.
‘The support that the team gave me and the reception the team gave me, I will never, ever forget that. I had a lot of support from within the sport. People like James Matthews at Williams, who made a point of coming to see me in Bahrain, were incredible.
It is clear that a fourth consecutive drivers’ title for Verstappen will represent sweet catharsis for Horner
Horner was joined by his wife, Geri, in Bahrain but admitted he did not know if he would even be at the race
‘The way the team has operated this year, we have had some challenging moments where the car has not gone to plan but it has still been outstanding. We are the only team to have won eight grands prix so far. We are on the verge of hopefully winning a drivers’ world championship.
‘The constructors’ title, we have not given up on but that is going to be a Herculean challenge to defend that. So, in what has most definitely been the most challenging year both personally and professionally of my career – of my life – if we manage to come out on top of it, that is the best answer to all the naysayers.
‘We are still winning, we are still there, we have got some tremendous partners, our shareholders have been fantastic, the team has never been stronger. There is always evolution in any team so the couple of team members that are going, we will be sad to see them go but it is about evolving and we continue to evolve as a team and a business.’
The crisis that enveloped Horner also represented a new nadir in a relationship with Wolff that has been fractious and characterised by mutual suspicion for some time. It sunk even lower this week when Wolff accused Horner of being disrespectful to his wife Susie.
Late last year, Susie Wolff had become the object of a short-lived and highly controversial investigation after an anonymous allegation that her position as chief of the F1 Academy, the all-female series run and owned by the sport’s owners, Liberty Media, could be construed as a conflict of interest because of information she could pass to her husband. Most teams on the grid have a single entry but, ironically, Red Bull have committed to three.
The allegation was swiftly dismissed but Wolff chose this week to breathe new life into the issue by suggesting Horner was the only team principal to drag his feet in protesting about the slight on his wife’s character. It reignited the smouldering feud between Horner and Wolff.
‘Toto sent me a text message at the end of last year to say thank you for standing up for Susie today and showing them that there is a red line and the teams are together. And I said “no problem, I said what I believe”.
‘So why he needs to go and say all that s*** this week, I have no idea. I was a little surprised to see his comments because he thanked me for his support. I have not said one word. I have not risen to Zak’s bait. I have not risen to Toto’s bait. I’ve had him chasing our drivers. I have had them chasing our sponsors. I have just thought “let them get on with it”.
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff tasted blood in the water in the wake of the allegations and called for the investigation to be conducted with ‘rigour’
Horner added that he feels his rival has bigger issues to concern himself with as Mercedes struggle on the track
‘I think Toto has got more than enough of his own issues to be focussed on with his own team’s performance rather than worrying about me.
‘Since 2021, Mercedes have had a horrible run. They have had three very uncompetitive years, by their own standards. Lewis has decided to leave the team. Perhaps he doesn’t believe in the future that was presented to him and probably needs that revitalised motivation that the challenge at Ferrari will offer him and it will be fascinating and great for Formula One to see him do that.
‘But I try never to take satisfaction out of other people’s misfortune. This sport is cyclical. After 2013, we did not have a competitive engine but every year we were winning races and we were still punching above our weight, bar one year in 2015. When you are not delivering a team, the less you say, the more you focus on sorting your own issues out, is usually a better way of going about things.
‘In the issues that affected me at the start of the season, what I was disappointed with the most – and I have been in the sport a long time now – was the way that some of the rival teams looked to take advantage. When I was down, Toto came after me. So did others. They tried everything, for their own gain.
‘It is a competitive business and I get it. Toto had lost his driver to Ferrari a month earlier and he was telling the world that wasn’t happening. He seemed to be the last person to find out about it. People use whatever tools they can. It was to be expected, I suppose, from the people involved.’
Horner also recognises the part played by Verstappen in keeping the team together and focussed on the winning of a fourth successive title in the face of strong challenge from McLaren’s Lando Norris that was only finally snuffed out by Verstappen’s performance at Interlagos.
‘Max has demonstrated this year the mental aptitude and strength he possesses,’ Horner says. ‘He has raced brilliantly, he has delivered at key moments, he has not panicked when things haven’t been going his way. He has driven like a four-time world champion this year.
‘He is the most deserving driver on the grid to win this world championship. He has worked hard; harder than any previous year, because we have had our backs against the wall through the summer. He has worked hard with the engineers.
Wolff had been reeling from the loss of his lead driver, Lewis Hamilton, after the Brit agreed to join Ferrari next year
Verstappen would be the ‘most-deserving’ winner of the drivers’ championship, Horner says
‘He has also inspired from within the cockpit. You see the kind of race he drove in Brazil, the motivation that put into the team in Milton Keynes on Monday morning, you can feel the energy. I appreciate throughout the year, he has been nothing but professional and supportive and fantastic to work with.
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‘Will everything that happened this season make us stronger next year? One hundred per cent. What doesn’t break you makes you stronger. One hundred per cent we will emerge from 2024 stronger as a team, more determined than ever, more resolute.
‘And what is exciting for me is what the future holds. We are producing our own engine for 2026 and that is a massive undertaking. The commitment and the passion that there is in the business is superb and we will succeed.
‘Max will be here. He trusts in the people around him. He believes in the people around him. He is winning. He is in a great place and of course we have got to keep delivering a car that is worthy of his talents and I am confident we can do that.
‘Look, my tactic this year has been to keep my head down and get on with it. Let them throw their stones, do your job and at the end of the year, if we take the trophy home, we will have delivered under colossal pressure and scrutiny. But whatever happens, I will be proud of what we have achieved together, as a team and against the odds.’