When Christian Horner sat down at a Formula 1 team bosses meeting for the first time in 2005, he was only in his 30s and was stepping into a world full of legendary figures when he received a surprise appointment as head of the new Red Bull team. Sir Frank Williams, McLaren’s Ron Dennis and Ferrari’s Jean Todt had spent their lives fighting and winning in a highly complex, intensely competitive and highly politicized environment.
Horner, like so many before him, could easily have been eaten alive if he had not enjoyed the support of a boss whose power exceeded all his rivals.
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Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s ringmaster, had recognized its potential over the previous decade. Emulating the choice made by Ecclestone in the 1950s, Horner realized the limits of his ability as a racing driver and left the cockpit to pursue a career as team manager and promoter.
Now there’s a chance for the first time since the team’s start in racing when the car in which Max Verstappen hopes to win a fourth consecutive drivers’ title is unveiled at a media launch scheduled for next Thursday at Red Bull headquarters. Horner will not preside over the show.
His survival as team boss appears to depend on the outcome of a meeting with an independent lawyer on Friday. The lawyer will investigate allegations of inappropriate and controlling behavior made against him by a female employee, which Horner denies.
He had been in fights before, but nothing like this time; It comes 18 months after the death of the team’s owner, Austrian energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, amid rumors of discord at the top of the team whose dominance was evident last season. With a record of 21 wins from 22 races.
Horner’s initial success running his own Arden Racing took him to the F3000 series, the lower rung of F1, and later owned by Ecclestone. When Horner’s drivers won the championship three years in a row and became the team’s representative, Ecclestone recognized him and perhaps recognized some of his own qualities.
“I was annoying him,” Horner told me when his team won its fourth consecutive F1 title with Sebastian Vettel. “And when I felt it was time to move to F1, he was very supportive. Initially he pushed me towards Jordan, but it quickly became clear that nothing serious was going to happen. He then bought Red Bull Jaguar.”
Mateschitz saw sports involving speed and risk, whether air racing or alpine skiing, as a vital promotional tool. Impressed by the idea of such a company’s wealth being put to F1’s use, Ecclestone referred him to the struggling Jaguar team; The team’s owner, Ford, relented by accepting a nominal $1 to get rid of this team, along with potential layoff and closure costs.
When Ecclestone mentioned the name of a young man who could manage the team on his behalf, Mateschitz was ready to take the risk. For Horner, this will mean a sudden shift from managing a workforce of 20 to taking control of an operation and then employing around 500 people (currently around 1,700) driven by the need to boost morale.
Horner met with Mateschitz’s compatriot and motorsport advisor, Dr. He already knew Helmut Marko and their current rift (perhaps involving the current champion’s father, Jos Verstappen) is said to have been brewing in recent months.
Marko is a former driver who could have been a title contender had he not lost his eye to a flying stone during a grand prix in 1972. Before Marko joined Mateschitz to create Red Bull’s junior driver, he and Horner had raced each other as team owners in the F3000. drive program, where he brought ruthless preparation to weed out those found wanting.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Helmut, even going back to when I started the Arden team and bought a second-hand trailer from him,” Horner said. I had no idea who he was or what he did. He was the man I gave almost all my savings to in Graz for this second-hand car transporter. Everything was done by handshake. Later I went to his workshop and saw newspaper clippings of Austrian legends: Niki Lauda, Jochen Rindt… and Helmut Marko. And I figured out who he was.
Once installed, Horner devoted all his efforts to luring star designer Adrian Newey away from McLaren. Both were born in Warwickshire and attended the same prep school 10 years apart. During the Monaco GP weekend, Newey accepted the young man’s invitation to the premiere of the movie Superman Returns, which Red Bull was promoting. Later, over dinner, they began discussing the possibility of a transfer to the designer of championship-winning cars for Williams and McLaren. Five years later, Vettel was winning the first of Red Bull’s seven drivers’ and six constructors’ championships.
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While the decision on Horner’s future was once in the hands of Mateschitz, today the situation is less clear, perhaps due to the influence of Ecclestone, who is now on the sidelines. More importantly, Horner and Newey are believed to have “key man” clauses in their contracts, which would be void if the other left.
Newey is the most successful designer in F1 history, while Horner has proven particularly adept at the promotional game. Frequently photographed at social events with his wife Geri, a former Spice Girl, and always ready to offer his carefully targeted opinions to any available microphone or notebook, he and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff shared the headlines in an often spiteful double act. Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.
Like almost everyone in F1, but perhaps more than most, Horner has made enemies along the way. With three weeks to go until the season starts in Bahrain, they will be awaiting with more interest than ever the outcome of the lawyer’s talks and its potential impact on F1’s immediate future.