Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is better known to Formula 1 fans for his career on the pit wall rather than in the cockpit of a racing car.
Christian Horner was in charge of Red Bull when they made their debut in F1 in 2005 after taking over the Jaguar team.
Over the past two decades, Horner has overseen two periods of domination of the sport.
First, Sebastian Vettel won Toro Rosso’s race in F1 before going on to win four championships on the bounce for Red Bull between 2010 and 2013.
We’re now living through the Max Verstappen era of Formula 1 after he matched Vettel’s achievement at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Horner believes Verstappen is a one-of-a-kind driver, although his next big decision involves working out what to do next with his teammate Sergio Perez.
Perez has been told by Horner what he must do this season if he wants to make sure he’s still a Red Bull driver in 2025.
However, before Horner was involved in the management side of racing, he had hopes of racing in F1 himself.
In an interview with Justin Bell on the Drive to Wynn Podcast, Horner outlined the one lap he saw Juan Pablo Montoya do that confirmed to him that his future wouldn’t involve racing in Formula 1.
Juan Pablo Montoya confirmed to Christian Horner that he would never make it as an F1 driver
Bell admits he had an epiphany when being overtaken by Mika Hakkinen during his junior career and asked Horner about a similar situation he faced.
The Red Bull team principal explained: “Yeah, Estoril pre-season testing for the 1998 season.
“I remember driving out the pit lane in Portugal and there was a very fast right-hander at the end of the straight.
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“So as you come out of the pits and I remember Montoya coming past me and I just saw this car at an angle that I couldn’t even imagine, let alone replicate and the commitment that he had in this high-speed corner, you could see the rim trying to pop out the side of the tyre.
“And there’s a barrier 10 meters from the side of the track. And I just thought, I just can’t do that. My head and foot are too connected.
“I knew at that point that my driving days… I was going to stop at the end of the year.”
Juan Pablo Montoya’s incredible but abrupt Formula 1 career
Montoya is the most successful Colombian driver in the history of Formula 1 after making his debut with Williams in 2001.
However, he had already won the International Formula 3000 and CART – later called Champ Car, and eventually IndyCar – before making the switch to F1.
It was in the 1998 International Formula 3000 that Horner encountered Montoya, and while the driver who went on to secure 30 F1 podiums won the title, Horner could only finish 33rd in the championship.
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In Montoya’s six campaigns in F1, he won seven races and finished third in the championship twice.
He walked away from Formula 1 while racing for McLaren halfway through the 2006 season to start racing in NASCAR, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona on three occasions.
Montoya even took part in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024, scoring five points in the one race he took part in.
