Christian Horner visited Red Bull physio over anxiety struggles

Sergio Perez extends contract with Red Bull Racing until 2024

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted he suffered from anxiety issues earlier in his F1 career and hailed his wife Geri for helping him overcome them. Horner is closing in on his first Constructors’ Championship since 2013 and recently opened up on his professional and personal life on the ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast.

Red Bull were engaged in a ferocious battle for the world title with Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes in 2012, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber eventually coming out on top by 60 points. It would be Red Bull’s third of four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013, but not without taking a toll on Horner.

In the personal interview on the podcast’s channel with over half a million subscribers, Horner revealed he saw the team physio after encountering problems with his breathing in high-pressure moments. He said: “About 10 years ago when we were at the height of a championship battle back in 2012, I can remember feeling self-conscious about my breathing.

“And then, when you start thinking about your breathing, you start overthinking things. ‘Did I have too much coffee? Did I have too many Red Bulls?’ I couldn’t identify what it was. It was only when I spoke to the team physio, ‘I’m conscious of my breathing, and it’s made me feel dizzy.’ And he said, ‘well, it’s probably a bit of anxiety’.”

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Horner’s wife, known as Geri Haliwell before marriage, was a member of the hit pop group The Spice Girls. And the Red Bull boss explained that her expertise and experience in dealing with similar issues throughout her career helped him ’embrace’ moments of anxiety in F1.

“It’s not a weakness; it’s just your body telling you that there’s a lot going on here. It is its way of protesting. I didn’t [seek therapy],” Horner added. “I mean, my wife is pretty together with all these things, and she’d experienced the same thing, whether it was before a show or, you know, some of the stuff they did was insane, crazy. So she helped me with it and to embrace it, to recognise it.”

The 48-year-old is on the verge of ending Mercedes’ eight-year run of dominance in the constructors’ standings. Max Verstappen was crowned world champion for the second season running in Japan last weekend, and Red Bull will likely be able to celebrate their first team crown in nine years after the United States Grand Prix next weekend.

They currently lead Ferrari by 165 points and would need to maintain a 147-point gap by the end of the race in Austin to be confirmed as constructors’ champions.

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