He talked about how Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, who led Red Bull Racing to glory, joined hands and what they learned from defeat to climb to the top.
In 2005, Christian Horner became Team Principal of a new team called Red Bull Racing and was fighting his first world championship. Horner was new to F1 at the time and the team had no track record, but he knew what he needed. More specifically, he knew who he needed. Adrian Newey.
“What the team lacked at the time was a clear technical direction,” said Horner.
“Adrian was the greatest engineer in F1 history, so it was a matter of getting his attention and getting him into Red Bull Racing.
After an early career at Leighton House until the 1990 season, Adrian Newey won the title as Technical Director of Williams and then moved to McLaren. I got it at the time of the year.
So Christian Horner decided to literally “step by step” on the best path. In his F1 debut in 2005, Horner made sure Newey showed up just in time for work at the circuit. Newey recalls:
“I remember most clearly at Silverstone, but Christian always ran into me when I entered the paddock, throughout the 2005 season.”
“After that, we had the chance to see each other again, and we started talking a little bit. Before long, a gentleman in a black leather jacket suddenly appeared from behind the truck and said, ‘I’m Helmut Marko. Here’s your contact number. Let’s talk on the phone.'”
As history has shown, Adrian Newey had a phone call with Dr Marko and joined Red Bull Racing as Horner’s colleague. The first step in the story of Red Bull Racing, where a newcomer team shines as the world champion and returns to the throne after 8 years, started from here.
And in the 2022 season, this story has come to fruition for the team to win the double title for the first time since the 2013 season. Max Verstappen won the drivers’ championship for the second consecutive season, and Sergio Perez played a decisive role in winning the constructors’ championship for the team’s fifth time.
British sports journalist and TV presenter Laura Winter was present in this special interview in an informal atmosphere. He talked about the bonds that were born through repeated efforts toward the goal, and how the many successes and the sluggish period in between contributed to the creation of a strong team.
13-time F1 winner David Coulthard played a central role in this story. Newey and Coulthard have known each other since their days at Williams/McLaren, and Coulthard was the lead driver for Red Bull Racing’s debut in the 2005 season.
Red Bull Racing was initially thought of as an easy-going ‘party team’, but Coulthard said, “Behind that image is a serious, well-funded, successful, ambitious and hungry team. There’s a racer group,” persuaded Adrian Newey.
“David was a good friend and I had a lot of confidence in his opinion.
“Red Bull Racing always brought in a huge disco, so I was wondering if this team would be able to take it seriously. I thought
2008 season Sebastian Vettel, who had already won the Grand Prix at the Italian Grand Prix in the Scuderia Toro Rosso (currently Scuderia AlphaTauri), a sister team of Red Bull Racing, retired in the 2009 season as Coulthard. Once in, what Adrian Newey called the “foundation” morphed into something bigger.
2009 season Chinese GP, Sebastian Vettel, who joined the team for the third time, presented the team’s first win to Red Bull Racing, and over the next five seasons, he won four world championships and won a total of 38 wins, rewriting the F1 record book. Established Red Bull Racing as a benchmark for F1, less than 10 years old.
Christian Horner looks back on the career of Sebastian Vettel, who made 300 starts and retired after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the 2022 season, says his combination of skill and dedication to excellence has made him one of F1’s greatest drivers ever. He says that he was one of them.
“It was clear that Sebastian was an outstanding talent. At the time, Toro Rosso was offering Red Bull’s junior drivers an opportunity to step up. It turned out to be the owner
“Sebastian was an amazing hard worker. An amazing dedication. He put in every effort. Often he was the one who remained in the engineering office until the end of Fridays and Saturdays.”
Adrian Newey believes this commitment shown by Sebastian Vettel has inspired him to raise the bar for the team.
“Sebastian had a very methodical approach and was very hard on himself,” said Newey.
“When he makes a mistake, he tries to understand why he made it and what he could have done better. He rarely made the same mistake twice.”
“That kind of dedication spilled over into the team. The crew saw Sebastian’s work and his commitment, so the team was ready to work harder.”
Sebastian Vettel’s track record at Red Bull Racing remains unbroken, but Verstappen’s remarkable progress in recent years may well put him ahead of Vettel in the not too distant future.
Max Verstappen, who joined Red Bull Racing after experiencing 23 races with Toro Rosso, suddenly won the 2016 season Spanish GP, the first race after the transfer. Verstappen eventually grabbed the 2021 season title in a dramatic way, and in the 2022 season, he achieved the title defense with 15 wins and a total of 454 points, the most in F1 history.
Christian Horner and Adrian Newey have seen every side of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen in the team. The two world champions have achieved success in contrasting ways, but Horner points out one thing they have in common.
“I think they are very different types of drivers,” said Horner.
“Sebastian’s approach to work is very German. “He’s hungrier and determined than ever. So, while the two are very different in so many ways, they’re very similar in their determination, their desire to win, their striving to be the best.”
“Whatever he pursues in his career, Max has achieved so much in a very short period of time. It’s terrifying to imagine what lies ahead for him at the age of 25.”
Drivers come and go, including world champions – that’s the cyclical nature of F1. However, Horner and Newey, who have fought together for 17 seasons, have learned as much in their sluggish seasons as in their successful ones, and big budgets, state-of-the-art equipment and vast amounts of data are the norm. Even in F1, where it is becoming, everyone agrees that the most important thing is still “people”.
Looking back on the 2014-2018 season, when Red Bull Racing won only sporadically as Mercedes continued to dominate both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, Adrian Newey said:
“One of the strengths of Red Bull Racing is that we stayed focused on our work and persevered through those difficult times.”
“Once we had a strong power unit again thanks to our partnership with Honda, we were able to catch up.”
Christian Horner nods his head in agreement.
“It was a tough time (2014-2018) when we were suddenly forced to struggle after dominating the championship four seasons in a row. One team was far ahead of the rest. I did,” Horner says.
“Organizations accustomed to the taste of victory can easily become discouraged or lose sight of it. The most important thing is to keep the team together and focus on what they can control and where they can influence. We had a great bond and continuity during that period of pressure.”
“With the exception of 2015, we were winning a little bit more every season. The only challenge was getting the right power unit for our package.”
With the 2022 season already in the rear-view mirror, Newey, like all the engineers, has his sights set on next season, working on the rules to keep the team on top.
“Ferrari won’t slow down,” said Newey.
Although the future is unpredictable, what is clear between Horner and Newey is that their collaborative system, which is approaching its 20th anniversary soon, has been a factor in producing results, and what lies ahead. It means the two will continue to stay aligned throughout the season.
When Christian Horner and Adrian Newey’s relationship has lasted so far, “I think it’s a relationship built on trust, friendship, and respect for each other’s work,” Horner said. In unison, say:
“It’s a trust that allows us to focus on each other’s work and keep doing it,” Newey succinctly says.
“The real factors that make our relationship so successful are our relaxed working style, trust and friendship.”
