- Horner rekindled rivalry with Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff by comparing himself to Sir Alex Ferguson
- Horner has been the team principal for Red Bull since 2005
- He is a celebrity F1 team principal
The rivalry between Red Bull and Mercedes team principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff is not about to end soon.
Horner rekindled their rivalry, saying that he follows the footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson, and it is very easy to wound up Wolff.
Horner has been the team principal for Red Bull since 2005, making him an industry veteran. His tendency to make controversial remarks when addressing the media has earned him a divisive reputation.
His Mercedes rival Wolff knows this and used it as a jab during last year’s heated battle. While Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were having their own fight, the tension between their respective team principals were rising, with Horner being labelled a “windbag who just wants to be on camera”.
The Red Bull boss admitted to Sky Sports that he enjoys a good fight with Wolff. He acknowledged that the Austrian-born Formula One team boss has put so much effort into getting the Mercedes to the top.
Christian Horner. Photo/PlanetF1
“Toto is Toto. He’s done a phenomenal job with Mercedes. He’s obviously come into the sport from a very different background to me, he’s very much from a financial background,” said Horner.
“And it’s very easy to pull his chain, and you can see it. Sometimes it affects him. So of course when you’re competing, and last year was so intense and of course it was the first time he’d ever been in that situation, it’s always interesting to see how people react. When they’re smashing headphones and so on, you can see that you got to them.”
Horner’s own popularity has increased, largely due to his candid nature during interviews and prominent role in the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.
But his detractors outnumber his supporters, not that he lets this influence his actions in any way.
Instead, he looks up to Sir Alex Ferguson, the former manager of Manchester United, as a role model for handling the negative press.
He says he does what’s best for the team and the people he’s supposed to represent. The Red Bull boss says that looking at someone like Sir Alex Ferguson; he highly doubts he was ever concerned with how other managers or people in the sport saw him.
Whether it’s working with the promoter, the FIA, the right shareholders, sponsors, or the media, his top priority and privilege is always to advocate for the people he serves as effectively as possible.
Christian Horner. Photo/thesportsrush
Horner, a former racing British driver born in 1973, has been instrumental in lifting Red Bull to the top of F1 charts. The driver’s seat was where Horner began his career in motorsport, but it didn’t take him long to realize that the pit lane was where he belonged.
As the team principal for Red Bull, Horner is one of the most important people in the company’s meteoric ascension to the top of the Formula One standings.
Because of his propensity for appearing on broadcast, he has developed his own independent reputation as a celebrity within the paddock.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login