Christian Horner says his “heart and soul” are poured into Red Bull Racing, as he and the team recently celebrated 400 Grands Prix and over 20 years together.

Horner has been the team boss of Red Bull Racing ever since Dietrich Mateschitz bought the former Jaguar squad at the end of 2004 and, in those intervening two decades, has turned the team into the fourth most successful outfit in the sport’s entire history.

Christian Horner: The last 20 years ‘beyond all my wildest hopes’

When Red Bull first entered Formula 1 in 2005, the Milton Keynes-based squad was viewed as a bit of a laughing stock. Not only had Jaguar, the ashes from which the team arose, failed to show any competitiveness over the previous five years, but there was an audacity and attitude from RBR that didn’t sit well at the time.

Back then, F1 had a haughty elitism that had been carefully curated by Bernie Ecclestone over the years – an approach that worked very well in the pre-social media era, a time when blue-chip companies vied with the tobacco industry’s billions for eyeballs and rear-wing exposure, and the very idea of TikTok would have sent the likes of then-McLaren team boss Ron Dennis off the deep end.

The idea of a team with no manufacturer involvement and backed by an energy drinks company (no matter how massive) meant Red Bull Racing was something of a black sheep in 2005 – an image the team leaned into with ostentatious displays such as kitting out in Star Wars gear for Monaco, blaring loud dance music from their garages, and fielding the effortlessly cool Vitantonio Liuzzi as a driver – a man who looked like he hung around skateboard parks in his spare time, rather than F1 car testing.

Red Bull’s arrival was a poke in the eye for an F1 that, at the time, was conservative, even ‘fuddy-duddy’, and, at 31 years old, the unproven Christian Horner stood out like a sore thumb.

So young was he that, even over 20 years later, he’s still younger than almost all of the team bosses on the grid were back in 2005 (here’s looking at you, Nick Fry), and, initially, he wasn’t taken very seriously.

But, over the years, Horner’s abilities as a team leader and politician began to emerge. It wasn’t long until Horner, together, with then-race driver David Coulthard, tempted Adrian Newey to turn his back on the might and prestige of McLaren to join the young upstarts – a seismic moment in the team’s upward momentum.

Horner also convinced Flavio Briatore to give Red Bull a Renault power unit supply in 2007, an agreement which gave Red Bull their initial successes and grew into a defacto factory supply over the next decade – giving Renault plenty of success with a power unit that failed to achieve much in the back of the French manufacturer’s own cars.

In 2008, both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso (a second team Dietrich Mateschitz had purchased a year after buying Jaguar) became front-runners with the former Minardi team even winning at Monza – and it was only a few months later that Red Bull Racing claimed its first win. A year later, the first title arrived, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel – ending, once and for all, any perception that this wasn’t a very serious and very competent F1 team.

15 years on from that maiden title, it’s easy to forget that Red Bull Racing was once viewed in such a dismissive fashion. After all, with 124 race wins – just five behind Mercedes and breaking into the top three in the sport’s history – Red Bull has won eight Drivers’ Championships and six Constructors’ Championships and has become a perennial frontrunner and race winner with a winning percentage of 30.8 percent over two decades.

At Imola this year, Red Bull reached 400 Grands Prix as a constructor, with Horner in charge for every single one of those successes. Aside from the on-track wins, Red Bull Racing has also turned into a commercial giant, having attracted a cumulative portfolio valued at close to $2 billion over the two decades – understood to be the most of any team during that time period.

Sitting down with PlanetF1.com for a look back over his time in charge at Red Bull so far, Horner is clearly satisfied with what he has achieved, but there’s no sense that his hunger has abated whatsoever.

“You always have dreams in life and aspirations,” he said.

“But I think what has happened in the last 20 years is beyond all my wildest dreams and hopes.

“It’s been an incredible journey so far. 124 wins, 14 World Championships, 106 pole positions… so we’re the most winning team in the 21st century. In a short space of time, we’ve done quite a lot, and it seems to have gone past very quickly!”

Horner’s experience in motorsport had been as a driver turned manager in junior categories, running his own Arden International team which had fielded the Red Bull-backed Liuzzi in F3000 in 2004. It was in F3000 that Horner first crossed paths with Helmut Marko.

“Helmut had a team in Formula 3000 and I had raced against his team and won, consecutively, three championships in a row,” Horner remembered.

“So Helmut recommended me to Dietrich, having worked with their junior programme with Liuzzi in 2004.

“Dietrich was always a great believer in giving youth a chance. He saw an ambition in me and backed it. Of course, in the early years, there were challenges, but he was always tremendously supportive.”

As for the big moments of those two decades, Horner doesn’t even need a moment to pick out the highlights.

“The first victory was massive, which was a 1-2 in China in 2009. Suddenly, we were winners and we joined an elite group of people,” he said.

“Then that first championship a year later against the odds in Abu Dhabi with Sebastian, when four drivers went into the championship fight in that race – that was another monumental moment.

“Then repeating it at the same venue in 2021 after a Herculean battle between Lewis and Max and Mercedes and ourselves – Mercedes having been the dominant force for eight, nine years. So, to fall back into contention and prevail in that championship again, was a big moment.”

On the flip side of that, are there any moments that he would change if he had the benefit of a time machine?

“I look back now, and I look at Indianapolis 2005 and I think we could have done a better job there,” he said.

“There was a lot going on, and the teams that were running on a certain tyre manufacturer didn’t race.

“I think, as a sport, we could have done better then. You’re always learning in this business.  you always learn. You’re always learning in this business. If I had to pick one moment of the 21 years, that would be it.”

Unsurprisingly, having overseen two separate spells of domination to win all their titles, Horner was also quick to identify his dream driver line-up from the roster of those he’s had on his books over the years.

“It’s a no-brainer! Max and Sebastian with Daniel as your reserve and David Coulthard as your ambassador!”

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Christian Horner: I feel a responsibility to Red Bull

The anniversary of Horner and Red Bull’s 400th race coincided with plenty of speculation about the British executive’s future with the team.

With the F1 team’s dominance coming to an end during 2024, McLaren’s leapfrog to the front coincided with some high-profile departures from Red Bull as the likes of Newey and long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley departed for fresh opportunities elsewhere on the grid.

Horner was plagued with rumours of pending dismissals throughout last year, speculation which re-emerged immediately prior to the 400th race milestone and threatened to overshadow the celebrations. The speculation obviously came to naught, with Red Bull winning the race courtesy of a stellar drive from Verstappen.

More rumours emerged over the weeks since, linking Horner with an approach from Ferrari to join the Scuderia.

Since then, Alpine’s vacancy following the resignation of Oli Oakes has seen speculation that Horner has reached out to enquire about joining the Enstone-based squad, tempted by the prospect of taking a shareholding in the squad.

These suggestions are understood to be without any basis in fact and when asked if he’s ever considered a fresh challenge elsewhere, Horner was unequivocal.

“Obviously, over the years, I’ve had different approaches, and it’s always flattering to be associated with any other team as they’re all great teams,” he said.

“But my heart and soul are in this team. I’ve invested a big part of my life in it, and I feel a responsibility to the people.

“It’s a group of 2000 people, and I’m really excited about what the future holds in terms of building our own engine. That’s very much the next chapter for us, having it all under one roof. You know, how many people have done that?

“So that’s a massive challenge but a great opportunity and something, as an organisation, we’re very excited about.

“The people are what makes a team, and that’s who I feel a tremendous attachment to. Both in the team, obviously, and the shareholders that have supported, the sponsors and partners – we now have 58 partners that I’ve been responsible for bringing into the team, and we have a great relationship with so many of those partners. It feels a significant part of my life.”

With Horner up front and centre in F1 year in, year out, it’s clear a certain level of mental resilience is required to handle the onslaught – a resilience Horner says he’s able to derive from his team.

“I think the people around you… when your back’s against the wall, you find out who your friends are,” he said.

“The level of commitment and loyalty there is in this team is unprecedented. It’s a phenomenal group of individuals who work as a team. We have more written and thrown at us than any other team, maybe because we’re the mavericks.

“We don’t comply, we’ve always been a bit different, and that was something that Dietrich always encouraged. Let’s be ourselves. Let’s not cower down to being a puppet of a manufacturer. We’ve got an opinion. Don’t be afraid to express it.”

Horner, who is under contract until the end of 2030, will thus reach the 500 Grand Prix mark during this time. Has he given any thought to a succession plan, or is there a particular benchmark or achievement he’d like to reach before considering something new, or handing over the reins to someone else?

“I will do it for as long as I have the same passion and motivation,” he said.

“I still have the same passion and motivation today as I had 21 years ago, I just have a bit more experience to draw upon, and a few battle scars along the way, but that hardens you in many respects.”

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