Although many Formula 1 fans around the world can’t stand him, Christian Horner is by far one of the most successful and decorated Team Principals in the sport. While many doubted Red Bull demoting Guenther Steiner to put Horner in charge, he proved his worth to the team by earning them four consecutive Championship Titles with Sebastian Vettel.
As a resident guest speaker for Sky Sports, Christian Horner fully embraces the media and marketing side of the sport. Horner is always quick to make witty comments to keep the sport fresh and alive. Nothing saw this come to life more than his intense 2021 campaign where Red Bull managed to stun Mercedes and take the Drivers’ Championship for the first time since 2013. If you want to learn more about Red Bull’s legendary Team Principal, here are 10 fast facts about Christian Horner:
10/10 early career
Christian Horner started his career by racing in motorsport. As with many other motorsport drivers, Christian managed to work his way through the local karting scene before participating in a few national championships.
Christian managed to catch the eye of a few scouts which helped him move from karting to other competitions around the United Kingdom. He gathered a few sponsors along the way, securing him a seat in Formula 3000.
9/10 Formula 3000
With the help of some British sponsors, Horner managed to secure himself a seat in Formula 3000. Here, he raced for Arden International in the 1997 season. The 12-race season did not go as planned, finishing in the points only once.
In his second season, Horner scored no points, having finished only six of the 12 races that season. This wasn’t all his fault as the car had to retire four times that season. This saw Horner’s hopes of a career in motorsport fall apart at just the age of 25.
8/10 Retired At 25
At the age of 25, Horner secured himself a management position within Formula 3000. As Arden went through a few ownership changes, Horner managed to capitalize and purchase a portion of the team in 2000.
Horner helped manage the drivers for the team, bringing in new talent that ended up taking victory 3 times in the 2000 season. The team managed to achieve more success, with Horner successfully retiring and managing the F3000 team in his late 20s.
7/10 Married To A Spice Girl
Christian Horner may not have been a particularly famous figure in the media, but this all changed when he started publicly dating Geri Halliwell. As a former Spice Girl, her stardom quickly made Horner a significant figure in the British tabloids.
Horner and Halliwell announced their engagement in November 2014, before getting married in May the following year. Together, they had a son in 2017 and live happily in the British countryside.
6/10 Instrumental In Red Bull Racing
Horner was itching to move to Formula 1 for a while. He made a number of attempts before partnering with Red Bull as they made the successful bid to purchase the Jaguar F1 team in 2005.
Horner was an instrumental figure in the purchasing and management of the new F1 team as he was responsible for initial negotiations under the advice of F1 legend, Helmut Marko. Helmut was retained and still works as an advisor to the team for the 2022 season.
5/10 Youngest Principal To Win The Championship
Red Bull invested heavily in their team, bringing in the best engineering talent from around the Paddock to help them.
The most notable hire was McLaren designer, Adrian Newey. He brought championship-winning designs to Red Bull as they worked their way to race wins and their first Championship title in 2010. This made Horner the youngest ever Principal to win a Championship Title.
4/10 Worked with Guenther Steiner
While Horner was instrumental in Red Bull purchasing the team in 2005, Guenther Steiner was the Team Principal and Director of Jaguar Racing at the time. Steiner stayed on with the new team to help guide Horner in the right direction.
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Steiner was demoted to Technical Director, working in the position that would later be taken over by Adrian Newey. Here, Steiner made much of the technical hiring that would see Red Bull dominate F1 from 2010 to 2013.
3/10 Honored With An OBE
Horner was recognized both locally and nationally for his contributions to motorsport. This acuminated in being awarded a noble title from the British Monarchy in 2013.
This did come as a surprise to the British team boss but was expected due to his impressive run in Formula 1 at the time. This award came right as Red Bull managed to come from behind to win the 2013 Formula 1 season.
2/10 Rivalry With Toto Wolff
Having been so successful from 2010 to 2013, Horner did not manage to produce a competitive car for the new set of regulations in 2014. The turbo-hybrid era saw Mercedes rise to the top of the timesheets and stay there for an incredibly long time.
This created an intense rivalry between Christian Horner and Toto Wolff. However, this was fairly one-sided as Mercedes was so far ahead of the competition. This changed in 2021 as new regulations shocked the Mercedes team, leaving Red Bull with the fastest car for the first half of the season. They managed to weather the storm and win the Drivers’ Championship.
1/10 Controversial Figure In F1
Along with the Toto Wolff rivalry, Horner has defended the Red Bull team throughout any and all controversy. While this is expected of all Team Principals, this has made Horner a slightly controversial figure himself.
The most controversial being his criticism of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, and the ending of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi. While most agree that the rules were not followed and allowed Max to win the Championship, Horner doubled down on his opinion of Hamilton and Mercedes in an attempt to highlight Max’s well-deserved title.
