Red Bull deputy team principal? Christian Horner issues a clear response

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner must find a way to improve on 2023.
Christian Horner says he has no interest in appointing a deputy team principal to share his workload at Red Bull, insisting it is his duty to attend every race.
Horner is by some margin the longest-serving team principal, having been in charge since Red Bull first appeared on the F1 grid back in 2005.
The 50-year-old has been present at each of Red Bull’s 370 grand prix appearances, with Horner overseeing seven Drivers’ – four for Sebastian Vettel and three for Max Verstappen – and six Constructors’ World Championship triumphs.
Christian Horner addresses Red Bull deputy suggestion
With the F1 calendar growing ever larger, several of Horner’s peers – including Mercedes boss Toto Wolff – have elected to miss certain races over recent years to attend to other matters away from the racetrack.
Mattia Binotto, the former Ferrari team principal with a background in engineering, would also choose to miss grands prix late in the season to lead development work on the following year’s car.
Yet Horner has zero interest in reducing his workload, likening the notion of him missing a race to the great football manager Sir Alex Ferguson missing a match while in charge of Manchester United.
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He told Sky Sports: “I attend every single race. I’ve attended every single grand prix that Red Bull have competed in since 2005. It would be like Alex Ferguson not going to a football match [if I wasn’t at a race].”
Asked if it is important for the boss of Red Bull to be seen by the team’s workforce, he said: “They do. And if I’m not in the factory, I’m in the office.”
Horner was speaking off the back of a remarkable 2023 season in which Red Bull won all but one of the 22 races, with Verstappen claiming 19 en route to a third successive title.
The Red Bull boss believes the 2023 achievements of team and driver will only be fully appreciated in time – and expects their records to stand for some time.
He said: “We broke records from 1988 with McLaren. He broke records for being the most on the podium, the most wins in a season, most consecutive wins, the most points.
“I think it’s only going to be with time when you reflect on last year, bearing in mind the amount of time it took – over 30 years – to break that record.
“This one could be around for quite a while to come there.”
With F1’s winter break in full swing, Horner has spent his off-season working with a different type of horsepower having developed a passion for training horses.
Asked how he got into the endeavour, he said: “I rediscovered it after Covid. It’s very easy to see how people can still get sucked into it.
“And the nice thing is, having them here, they become part of the family. You get to see how they develop and grow and and they’ve all got different personalities – a bit like drivers!”
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